The Defense Department would be prevented from using taxpayer funds or facilities to host drag-queen performances under a bill brought by Senate Republicans.
Sen. Steve Daines, Montana Republican, led the legislation introduced Tuesday after an uproar over a “Drag Story Time” show featuring the Mister Sisters was held in June 2021 at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, Montana.
Mr. Daines said the show and others like it on military facilities must be “stopped immediately.”
“Our military’s mission is clear: to provide the military forces needed to deter and win wars and to protect the security of our country and our allies,” Mr. Daines said in a statement. “Allowing the DOD to become a branch of [the] far-Left, helping to promote their radical gender ideology by hosting and promoting drag queen performances is a threat to our national security and gross misuse of taxpayer funds.”
The brief two-page bill says that no defense funding or facilities “may be used to host, advertise, or otherwise support an adult cabaret performance,” which includes “male or female impersonators who provide entertainment that appeals to prurient interest.”
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin insisted at a House Armed Services Committee meeting on the budget in March that “drag queen story hours is not something that the department funds.”
Drag Queen Story Hour at Malmstrom? DOD Dragged Before Congress https://t.co/RLNwZ9vRyO
— Aaron Flint (@aaronflint) March 30, 2023
A 2021 post on the Malmstrom Air Force Base page on Facebook advertised the “Drag Story Time” at the base library as well as a “Drag Show” at a local bar to “celebrate” Gay Pride Month.
“To celebrate pride, the Mister Sisters will be hosting a Drag Story Time and a Drag Show, June 30,” the post said. “The reading will be held at the Base Library at 2 P.M. and the first 25 children will be gifted goodie-bags. The Drag Show will be held at the Grizzly Bend later that afternoon at 3:41 P.M.”
Other Republicans on the bill include Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, Ted Budd of North Carolina, and Marco Rubio of Florida.
Reps. Ryan Zinke and Matt Rosendale, both Montana Republicans, sent a letter in March to the Pentagon leadership “demanding answers on how and why this event took place,” said the press release.
The Navy came under criticism last week for showcasing service members in drag as “digital ambassadors” in a six-month pilot program that wrapped up in March.
