'A Drag Queen Christmas' draws protesters and supporters to Amarillo performance

Despite outcry from some residents of Amarillo ahead of the event, “A Drag Queen Christmas” went on as scheduled without incident Tuesday night at the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Amarillo.

With the recent shooting at an LGBTQIA+ night club in Colorado, the Amarillo Police Department had an increased presence at the event to ensure the safety of the eventgoers and the general public. Small groups of protesters and counter-protesters were gathered outside at the event. Protesters were moved back to the sidewalk surrounding the event center in the interest of public safety, according to the Amarillo police, as to not interfere with people parking or accessing the event.

More:'Drag Queen Christmas' event on Tuesday in Amarillo drawing political ire

The show, which featured some performers who had appeared on the television show "RuPaul’s Drag Race" as well as other popular drag performers, had sold out its VIP tickets and had a long line to enter the event. While much-fervored awareness was brought to the show due to all ages designation for the event from the promoters, none of the people standing in line for the show had small children accompanying them.

With both the protesters and counter-protesters being separated only by the driving entrance to the venue, the protests remained peaceful, with a barrage of dueling megaphones as the groups attempted to make their cases. This later turned to counter-protesters playing music in support of the event.

Among those protesting the event, David Grisham, a self-proclaimed street preacher from Amarillo, and Rich Penkowski, of Warriors for Christ Ministries out of Oklahoma, said their objection to the event was the all ages designation, which allowed parents to bring their children to the event.

Grisham emphasized that he did not feel an event that had drag performers was appropriate for children, and he was there to tell people not to bring their children into the event.

“We are out here to tell people not to bring children into this event because we have seen past performances of this same group in other cities. … These people were talking to a 12-year-old and asking about their sex life and making vile remarks about the 12-year-old,” Grisham said.

He said that he had no issue with drag shows in bars and such, but he was against having these events in a public venue without age restrictions.

“The goal is to try to get children in here so they can groom them; these people do not have children of their own. They do not reproduce. They can only recruit with their sexual exploitation of them,” Grisham said. “If they want to do their drag shows at their gay bars like they have been doing it for years, we do not care that is what they do. But when you bring children into this, you have crossed a red line that we stand against.”

Asked if the presence of drag performers in a show made it inappropriate for minors, Grisham said that he would take issue because of the confusion he felt would result in those children who attended.

“We still have an issue with that because when you are trying to gender-confuse children, that's still a problem when you take men and put them in dresses,” Grisham said. “This still causes gender confusion. Gender is not a social construct being transgender, and drag stuff is a social construct and that is the social construct.”

Penkowski said that he had seen video from the touring show that he said was inappropriate for children, such as props that were fashioned after men’s private parts and sexualized dancing.

He said he understood the police presence at the event with the recent shooting of five people in Colorado, but then weighed in on the deaths as being the consequence of their own actions.

Jami Lyons, the founder of the Panhandle Activist Coalition, helped to organize the counter-protest, saying that her group wanted to come out in support of the event as a counterpoint to the hateful rhetoric that had come out attacking the event. She said that she had seen that some conservative groups were coming out to protest the event.

“We wanted to come out in support of the drag performance and generally entertainment in Amarillo, because we need more inclusive entertainment in this city,” Lyons said. “Amarillo is known as being right in the center of the Bible Belt in a deep red state; we wanted anyone who came or heard about Amarillo to know there is a community of supporters here. People in this city support more inclusive entertainment like this Christmas drag show.”

Sam Bennet, Vice-President of Smile Big Texas, an organization that is committed to building a safe and supportive community for the LGBTQ+ youth in Texas, said she was there to support the show and inclusiveness in the community. She said that her group was also there to ensure that people could come and go from the show safely.

“People just want to have a good time, and there is nothing wrong with that,” Bennet said. “This is art, and we are excited for this type of show to be in Amarillo.”

Asked if there was a level of appropriateness for a drag show to be all ages, Bennet weighed in.

“We definitely think that there has to be an appropriate standard for what can be in a show, and parents need to know what parents are bringing their kids to,” Bennet said. “The people putting on this show are professional well-known performers that are just bringing art to Amarillo. We may be a minority, but we still matter. We still are genuine people with feelings, careers and children. We genuinely care and want to make a difference in the world.”

Sarah Best, a ticket holder for the show, spoke about the reasons that she came out to enjoy the performance. She said she is a fan of "RuPaul’s Drag Race" and has been to other drag shows.

“I am incredibly excited to see many of these queens perform live, especially here in Amarillo,” Best said.

Speaking about the age appropriateness of the show, Best said that all drag shows are not the same, and that is taken into account with the intended audience.

“Some drag shows are not for kids and they do not advertise for kids, but there are other drag shows that like reading story time and other performances,” Best said. “Drag is playing pretend; it is an art form. Yes, there are adult-friendly shows just like any other type of show or book. Understanding those distinctions and educating yourself on that is the most important thing people can do.”

Best said that she was not surprised by the uproar from members of the Amarillo community, but she was disappointed that people want to stop others from attending a show they want to see. She also was disappointed that people were trying to label this show as something it is not, to push an agenda.

"We are all just here to have a good time,” Best added.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: 'A Drag Queen Christmas' show draws protesters, supporters in Amarillo