Thank you so much for your front-page article about the drag show that thrives in Trump country. It is so reassuring to know that freedom, freedom of expression, and tolerance thrive in a conservative culture. (But we already knew that, didn’t we?)
The Hideout owner Jimmy Roberts said, “I know we’re in a very conservative area.” He knew because he had freedom, freedom to sponsor a drag show, freedom for his performers to do their thing. Would a conservative have the freedom to do whatever they wanted to do in a far-left area?
The article says that Trump’s administration “has been responsible for setting back LGBTQ+ progress with a slew of mandates like those that bar transgender people from military service and prohibit the state department from issuing passports with one’s gender identity.”
It neglects to say that President Donald Trump appointed, for the first time in American history, an openly gay, married man to the highest appointed position one can attain: U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent. He earned it. His gender/sexuality status had nothing to do with it. Trump’s actions reveal his beliefs.
As far as the other Trump anti-LGBTQ+ “mandates” go, how is barring from gender-specific roles in the armed forces a man who decides he’s a woman, or a woman who decides she wants to be a man, not common sense? What is wrong with a transgender person being required to choose a male or female gender assignment for their passport to travel overseas? Isn’t that common sense?
The article also says that “anti-drag laws also have been proposed over the past few years.” Anti-Trump rhetoric is always about what conservatives have “proposed,” not what has been done. The implication is, “This is what Trump will do,” not what Trump has actually done.
Does The Enquirer ever talk about what far-left Democrats have “proposed?” That list would scare anyone but the most radical, anti-American voters.
Roberts said, “People hate it (the drag show).” Huh? The place is sold out because people hate it? Where’s the evidence that people hate it? That they voted for Trump? I love when people’s (i.e., conservatives’) feelings are never demonstrated by what they do − like that they actually attend the show − but rather by what liberals tell us their feelings are.
Roberts said that “hosting the show isn’t a political statement.” That’s nice. Then why does the Enquirer make it one?
The article tells us, “Nobody at The Hideout is blind to the contradiction between the show’s location and the political environment outside.” I guess so. The acceptance and tolerance of the people who live “outside” is quite a contradiction to the views of the crowd inside. Outside, conservatives tolerate the show’s freedom of expression, which is not like their own. Inside, drag queens and their fans condemn the folks “outside” who don’t think like them. Tolerance and allowing freedom of expression are not enough; These liberals will only be happy when everyone is pro-LGBTQ+.
When will some liberals be as tolerant and accepting of conservatives’ beliefs in morality, responsibility, accountability, and family as conservatives are of theirs?
Frank Lawrence lives in Norwood.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Trump country is apparently more tolerant than the drag show crowd | Opinion
Reporting by Frank Lawrence / Cincinnati Enquirer
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