Missouri AG asks MSBA to call on school boards to prohibit student attendance at drag shows

Calling drag shows "inherently sexualized performances," Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey sent a letter Tuesday to the Missouri School Boards' Association, seeking its help in prohibiting student attendance at them.

"Adherence to the law is particularly important in the wake of recent events in which Columbia Public Schools took a group of middle school students to an event that featured a drag show performance," Bailey wrote in the letter to MSBA director Melissa Randol.

Thanks, but no thanks, Randol said was the MSBA response, to Bailey.

CPS didn't take students to the Columbia Values Diversity Breakfast, CPS spokeswoman Michelle Baumstark has said. Their parents took them unless they were old enough to drive themselves.

On Wednesday, Superintendent Brian Yearwood in an email to families revisited his initial response, apologizing for what he said was unmet expectations over communication to parents.

"For some, the city’s event demonstrated the importance of inclusion," Yearwood wrote. "For others, expectations were not met, specifically regarding the level of communication provided to parents. Either way, it has created frustration for many. I want to apologize to parents and our community for that frustration. As a district, we continually strive to meet the expectations of our parents and community. When we do not meetthose expectations, I apologize."

In a letter to Gov. Mike Parson after the furor erupted, Yearwood called some information circulating about the event as "misinformation."

Bailey pushed the idea that any drag performance is sexual in his letter to Randol.

"They are an outward expression of a desired sexuality and sexual identity," Bailey wrote of drag performances. "They are intended to draw attention to human sexuality in a manner that appeals to prurient interests. Drag shows have no educational value and have no place in our public schools."

The city-sponsored event was at the Holiday Inn Expo Center, not in any school.

According to an analysis by Associated Press reporter Jeff MacMillan, "drag performers and the venues that book them generally either don’t allow children if a performance has risque content, or else require children to be accompanied by a parent or guardian — basically, how R-rated movies are handled by theaters."

Bailey in his letter cited a new Missouri law governing the content of human sexuality education.

"It is my sincerest hope that MSBA will stand with me in this fight to protect Missouri children, promote adherence to Missouri law and ensure parents are fully informed about human sexuality instruction in Missouri schools," Bailey wrote.

Bailey drafted a suggested resolution for Missouri school boards, but Randol said it already developed a model policy.

"We have communicated with him on this and we stated we are a policy organization," Randol said.

The MSBA already has a suggested policy on the new law regulating human sexuality education, and it doesn't forward resolutions from any outside sources, she said.

"If anything, our policies capture the situation," Randol said.

There were students at the event from CPS as well as from other private and religious schools, she said. The schools were not responsible for the content.

The MSBA works on behalf of school boards, Randol said.

While Bailey posted his letter publicly on his website, the MSBA communicated privately to Bailey.

"That's the standard of professionalism we want to maintain," Randol said.

Roger McKinney is the Tribune's education reporter. You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com or 573-815-1719. He's on Twitter at @rmckinney9.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: School boards' association resists pressure from AG about drag shows