The DeSantis administration wants to revoke a Miami hotel’s liquor license after they hosted a Christmas-themed drag show. NBC 6’s Alyssa Hyman reports
Officials from the administration of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis want to revoke the alcohol license for the Hyatt Regency Miami after one of its facilities hosted a Christmas-themed drag show opponents called a "sexually explicit performance marketed to children."
The 17-page complaint was filed Tuesday by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation against the venue, the James L. Knight Center. The show required anyone under the age of 18 to be accompanied by an adult to attend.
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The FDBPR accused the venue of several violations, including a prohibition of "lascivious exhibition" to people under the age of 16. The department said performers were "wearing sexually suggesting clothing and prosthetic female genitalia," as well as simulating sex acts.
In a statement Wednesday, Amir Blattner, the general manager of Hyatt Regency Miami, said the James L. Knight Center, is managed by a third-party operator and the hotel is the food and beverage concessionaire at the center.
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"We can confirm the hotel’s liquor license remains in effect and has not been revoked.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 administrative review process," Blattner's statement read.
The event made stops in Fort Lauderdale and Miami as part of a national tour. It is not known if the Broward Center of Performing Arts would also be fined or punished for hosting the event.
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"Exposing children to sexually explicit activity is a crime in Florida, and such action violates the Department's licensing standards for operating a business and holding a liquor license," DeSantis press secretary Bryan Griffin said after the show's performance in December.
Griffin said the FDBPR had warned the Hyatt against hosting the show but the venue proceeded with its plans.
"Sexually explicit content is not appropriate to display to children and doing so violates Florida law. Governor DeSantis stands up for the innocence of children in the classroom and throughout Florida," Griffin said in a statement Wednesday.
Famous drag queens like Nina West and Trinity The Tuck, well-known for competing on RuPaul's Drag Race, performed in the shows but did not respond to NBC 6's request for comment.
This investigation came after the state barred transgender children from receiving hormones or undergoing surgeries to treat gender dysphoria under a rule approved in November by state medical officials at the urging of DeSantis.
State lawmakers are considering a slate of anti-LGBTQ measures. At least 20 have been introduced this session.
"An unprecedented avalanche of anti-LGBTQ bills that have been filed by what has been an incredibly hostile legislature," said Joe Saunders of Equality Florida.
The advocacy group has spent the week at the state capitol lobbying against the measures that include restrictions on academic and medical freedom.
"These are bills that would create a sweeping right to discriminate against LGBTQ people in public life, areas of commerce, bills that ban access to healthcare for transgender Floridians that ban the ability to navigate birth certificates," Saunders said.
Anthony Verdugo, the founder of Christian Family Coalition Florida, supports the proposed measures.
"The ban on genital mutilation for minors. We’re in support of that because it's common sense," he said. "Minors don't even know where they live, much less can give proper consent to a life-changing surgery."
The coalition also supports the expansion of the Parental Rights in Education Act, which opponents dub as the “Don't Say Gay" bill.
"Schools are for reading, writing, and arithmetic, geography, history — it's about education, not indoctrination," Verdugo said. "There’s no place in schools to be discussing gender ideology; that is left for the home."
