Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration seeks to yank the liquor license of a high-end South Florida hotel after it permitted a drag show that allowed children to attend.
The Republican governor is seeking to strip the Hyatt Regency in Miami of its permit to sell alcohol over the show “A Drag Queen Christmas,” which occurred there on Dec. 27.
According to the administration’s complaint, filed by the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation, the Hyatt Regency “promoted the Show using targeted, Christmas-themed promotional materials that did not provide notice as to the sexually explicit nature of the Show’s performances or other content.”
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“Rather than call attention to the Show’s sexually explicit content or acknowledge that it might not be appropriate for children, Respondent’s promotional materials unequivocally stated ‘[a]ll ages welcome.’”
Breitbart noted that the agency warned the Hyatt Regency against letting children attend the “sexually explicit” event. The hotel responded by changing the advertising to say the drag show was “recommended for audiences 18+.”
Yet the hotel still allowed children to attend if accompanied by an adult. Therefore, as the state argued in its complaint, children were “knowingly admitted into the Show.”
“During the Show and in the presence of person less than 16 years of age, performers appeared on stage wearing sexually suggestive clothing and prosthetic female genitalia,” the state’s complaint continued, Breitbart reported.
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The performance also featured “numerous segments where performers engaged in acts of sexual conduct, sexual activity, and lewd, vulgar, and indecent displays,” which included “performers forcibly penetrating or rubbing their exposed prosthetic female crests against the faces or oral cavities of audience members” as well as “simulating masturbation through performers’ digitally penetrating prosthetic female [sic] genital.”
The event even offered sexually explicit Christmas songs, such as “Screwdolph the Red-Nippled Reindeer.”
In its complaint, DBPR noted that the Florida Supreme Court has defined a performance conducted in a “nasty, suggestive and indecent manner” as a public nuisance under Florida law.
As such, the complaint argues that by “operating and maintaining” such a nuisance, the Hyatt Regency has violated state law and deserves to have its liquor license revoked.
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The Hyatt Regency Miami, which owns the liquor license, issued its own statement on the issue.
“The James L. Knight Center, including programming and ticketing, is managed by a third-party operator.”
“We can confirm the hotel’s liquor license remains in effect and has not been revoked. We are reviewing this complaint and will address the situation directly with the state’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation as part of the administrative review process.”
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