In November, he wrote to Pensacola\u2019s City Council asking it cancel \u201cA Drag Queen Christmas,\u201d the nationally touring drag show slated for a Dec. 23 performance at the city-owned Saenger Theatre.<\/p>\n
But Uthmeier has not asked the same of St. Petersburg, which also will play host to the show at a city-owned venueMonday night. A public records request for any letter from Uthmeier to St. Petersburg about the show did not generate any results.<\/p>\n
Even if Uthmeier had delivered a letter to St. Petersburg, its unlikely City Council members would have complied. Some councilmembers have strongly backed the performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an art form. Not all kinds of art appeals to all kinds of people,\u201d council member Gina Driscoll told the Tampa Bay Times. \u201cThe beauty of art is that there is something for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
The show, which says attendees should be at least 18-years old and features performers who rose to prominence thanks to their time on RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race, is on a 38-city tour. It comes to Hard Rock Live Orlando on Sunday, before heading to St. Petersburg\u2019s Mahaffey Theater.<\/p>\n
In his letter to Pensacola officials, Uthmeier called the show blasphemous and said it should not occur two days before Christmas or at the same time as the city\u2019s family oriented Winterfest, which kicked off in November and runs until Christmas Eve. Both events will occur near each other in Pensacola\u2019s downtown, but the Saenger Theatre is an indoor venue.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis annual drag show openly mocks one of the most sacred holidays in the Christian faith,\u201d he wrote. \u201cWhile Pensacola children are taking pictures with Santa, men dressed as garish women in demonic costumes will be engaged in obscene behavior mere feet away.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Uthmeier argued in the letter, which he also posted to his X account, that the city had the power to cancel the show and should do so.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile the First Amendment safeguards freedom of expression, it does not require a city to platform and endorse disgusting, obscene content that denigrates its residents\u2019 religious beliefs,\u201d Uthmeier wrote. \u201cThe show\u2019s content is designed to inflame religious strife, its timing is intentional, and its proximity to children is unacceptably problematic.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Pensacola City Council member said the letter was not a formal legal opinion and that cancelling the show could put the city at risk of legal ramifications.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith all due respect to the Attorney General\u2019s office, this was an unsolicited opinion,\u201d council member Charles Bare said at the November 10 meeting. \u201cWe did not ask for a legal opinion from this person, and as far as I\u2019m concerned, this is his personal opinion written on government letterhead wasting taxpayer dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is disingenuous to the people of our city to take this seriously and to do anything about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Uthmeier again took aim at Pensacola on Monday after a national appellate court granted Florida the ability to enforce the \u201cProtection of Children Act.\u201d Introduced by DeSantis in 2023, the law prohibits children from attending any \u201cadult live performance.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re exposing children to lewd conduct, you\u2019re on notice,\u201d Uthmeier tweeted after the legislative victory. \u201cWe\u2019re watching, Pensacola.\u201d<\/p>\n
Council member Allison Patton noted at the November meeting that St. Petersburg is also hosting the show at a public venue, but did not appear to have received any similar letter from Uthmeier. The Mahaffey is owned by St. Petersburg and privately operated by local businessman Bill Edwards.<\/p>\n
St. Petersburg City Council members Richie Floyd and Driscoll told the Times they were not aware of any letters, but said City Council has received complaints from citizens.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe city should be investing in programs that unite residents, not ones that mock traditions held sacred by many in our community,\u201d read a form letter sent to the city council by numerous members of the public.<\/p>\n
Driscoll and Floyd said that City Council does not have purview over what acts the Mahaffey decides to host, and that attempting to influence the theater\u2019s lineup would be inappropriate, if not illegal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe idea that we are going to cancel something because we don\u2019t like it is such a violation of the First Amendment,\u201d Floyd told the Times. \u201cAll of this is an absurd conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not going to censor speech.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
The dismay of some constituents, they said, is also not grounds for them to attempt to cancel the show. They said not every show the Mahaffey hosts will attract everyone, and that the theater frequently hosts crude comedians without controversy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a Christian,\u201d Floyd said. \u201cI\u2019m not offended by (A Drag Queen Christmas) at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
They also said they found Uthmeier\u2019s description of the show to be far too negative.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always enjoyed drag shows,\u201d Driscoll said. \u201cIt\u2019s an unique and wonderful form of performance art.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere can I get a ticket?,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s where I stand.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The longest running drag tour in the United States is set to make three stops in Florida after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90594,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[29138,832,3368,48186,28,7912,30,29,4260,8987,48853,412,27582,199],"class_list":{"0":"post-90593","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-a-drag-queen-christmas","9":"tag-city-council","10":"tag-council-member","11":"tag-drag-show","12":"tag-florida","13":"tag-florida-attorney-general","14":"tag-florida-headlines","15":"tag-florida-news","16":"tag-james-uthmeier","17":"tag-pensacola","18":"tag-pensacola-city-council","19":"tag-ron-desantis","20":"tag-saenger-theatre","21":"tag-st-petersburg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90593\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}