Pentagon bans drag events on bases after Republican criticism
The Defense Department said Thursday it would not host drag shows at US military installations after Republican politicians complained about events being planned at bases to celebrate Pride Month.
Sabrina Singh, the department’s deputy press secretary, said in a statement that “drag events” were not an “appropriate use” of the department’s resources.
The statement did not say how the Pentagon defines a drag event. Drag shows, which have become mainstream in recent years, are often a type of variety show in which gender assumptions are challenged through dress and makeup, dance and song.
According to the department’s ethical regulations, Ms. Singh that “certain criteria must be met for individuals or organizations acting in a non-federal capacity” to use the department’s facilities and equipment.
“As Secretary Austin has said, the DOD will not host drag events at US military installations or facilities,” Ms. Singh said, referring to Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III. “Hosting these kinds of events in government-funded facilities is not an appropriate use of DOD resources.”
The Department of Defense did not specify what was inappropriate about drag events compared to other military Pride events, including speeches, panel discussions, and road races.
One of the canceled events was a drag show scheduled for Thursday at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, just northeast of Las Vegas. NBC reported. An advertisement for the show described it as a “family-friendly” event featuring three performers, including Coco Montrese, a former “RuPaul’s Drag Race” contestant.
The base held drag shows in 2021 and 2022. Task & Purpose, an online publication about the military and defense industry, reported that the 2021 show featured Ms. Montrese and other performers educating attendees about the history and importance of drag in the LGBTQ community. The event, the publication reported, was planned by the base’s Pride Committee.
Officials at Nellis Air Force Base did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday.
The restrictions come as conservative commentators and Republican politicians focus on drag shows and library readings, calling the events inappropriate for children. This rhetoric has also led to protests by far-right groups and threats against transvestites, including armed demonstrators who cancellation of an event in September at the Museum of Science and History in Memphis.
Since early 2022, there have been at least 166 protests, threats and acts of violence against drag events, according to a report released in April by GLAADan LGBTQ advocacy organization.
At a House Armed Services Committee hearing in March, Florida Republican Representative Matt Gaetz asked military leaders about the Nellis Air Force Base event and other Pride celebrations.
He called a story hour for drag queens at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana in 2021 and a story hour for drag queens at Ramstein Air Base in Germany scheduled for Friday, what That reports Military.com has now been cancelled.
Mr Austin, the Secretary of Defense, said at the House Armed Services Committee hearing that the Department of Defense did not fund drag shows or drag queen story hours.
Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who also testified at the hearing, said he wanted to “find out what’s really going on there.”
“I’d like to see that one, because I don’t agree with it,” he said. “I think those things shouldn’t happen.”
Last month, Mr. Gaetz sent a letter to Mr. Austin and General Milley asking how federal money was used for drag events and how the events were organized.
There is a long history of towing in the US military.
Photo archives contain images of naval service members in drag in the 1920s and American soldiers performing a drag show in Germany 10 days after the country surrendered to the Allies in World War II.
A touring show called This is The Army had male military men in drag playing the role of women as they traveled the world for what the State Archives of North Carolina describes as the “greatest and most famous morale-boosting show” during World War II. Bob Hope, one of the most famous USO tour entertainers, has performed in cross-dressing television specials, including during the celebration of his 83rd birthday aboard the USS Lexington.
The historian Allan Bérubé explored the history of dragging in the military in a book, “Coming Out Under Fire: The History of Gay Men and Women in World War II.” Drag shows, he wrote, were enjoyed by men of all sexual orientations and are credited with providing a safe space for service members who were not straight.
The book details the delivery of gold lamé dresses to a small atoll near New Guinea for a show organized by an Army Air Corpsman, Ben Small.
“Well, here’s everyone in the office, from the lieutenant to trying on dresses!” Mr. Small told the author. “Everyone suddenly becomes a drag queen!”