Knox County Leadership Unresponsive To Citizen’s Concerns About Children’s Exposure To Drag

Image Credit: Anonymous Source

The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –

On Friday of last week, The Tennessee Conservative posted Knox for Liberty’s alert of three drag shows open to children to take place over the weekend.

The article featured contact information for the sponsoring businesses, local officials and a link to find constituent’s legislators.

A Tennessee Conservative subscriber told us that she contacted the sponsoring businesses and was told that the mayor and the sheriff’s office was fine with the events and that the businesses are not in violation of Tennessee Code.

The Tennessee Code referenced in the previous article is the same that Representative Chris Todd (R-Madison County-District 73) cited to stop a “family-friendly” drag show in Jackson recently through weeks of work, meetings and media exposure.  

Another Tennessee Conservative subscriber shared an email and response from the office of Knox County Mayor , Glenn Jacobs, regarding the drag shows in Knoxville over the weekend.

The email, that also contained photos and promotional pictures of the upcoming events read as follows:

Dear Mr. Jacobs, 

First off, I want to make sure that you are aware of this event. 

Is there no law that can prevent drag performers having access to children in Knoxville? 

Do you support all ages or “family friendly” drag performances?

I hope that you will join those of us who are starting to stand up against this dangerous practice that is beginning to emerge throughout the Knoxville area. 

Reply from the office of Mayor Jacobs to all concerned citizens that sent the email:

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. I will be sure to pass them along.

While Mayor Jacobs believes that these events are not appropriate for minors and is alarmed by the trend of sexualizing children that we have seen in other parts of the country, Knox County currently doesn’t have the capability to police these events in privately owned businesses. Ultimately, of course, it is up to parents/guardians to make responsible decisions for their children.

If you have further concerns, I suggest you reach out directly to those involved in the show/program.

Sincerely,

Bailey Butler

Constituent Services Coordinator 

Office of Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs

865.215.4751

The Tennessee Conservative subscriber’s response email:

This is an unacceptable response. 

What the response was from this venue when I inquired if indeed it was for all ages: “While the event is listed as all ages, it is still a Halloween-themed drag show and may not be appropriate for all children.”

BY THEIR OWN ADMISSION, this is not appropriate. 

With all due respect, if Mayor Jacobs is truly “alarmed”, then he needs to publicly voice it. This is a winning stance on a topic that a vast majority can agree on. 

If it’s a question of “policing”, then our elected leaders should be working together to figure out how laws can be changed in Knoxville, and the state of Tennessee, to make it illegal for any minor to attend a “drag” event. Hiding behind the “it’s a private business so our hands are tied” is not acceptable. 

Those of us who have uprooted our entire lives to escape places like California are not going to “go along to get along” in terms of standing by while progressive policies and events begin to take over our new home state. We will demand more from our conservative and Republican representatives. 

From what I’ve seen, Mayor Jacobs doesn’t seem like one who is afraid to stand for conservative values that make Tennessee, and Knoxville, the great place it is to which “refugees” like our family have fled. 

If that is not the case for something as easy to unite around as children being exposed to drag culture, with the ample “evidence” of the derogatory nature of the lifestyle as displayed on public social media, better to know sooner rather than later. 

Are there currently any plans for working on how to stop this activity in Knoxville?

The TTC Subscriber tells us this email has not yet received a reply.

Sources tell us that the all-ages drag shows that took place in Knoxville over the weekend are in part “backlash” to the recent drag events in Maryville that concerned citizens managed to have canceled.

“The response from the drag queens and supporters has been to rile their base and claim that they are going to fight this all the way to the courts,” one source says.

According to the source, the event that happened at Hexagon Brewing Co. appears to be part of the response. The event was originally only open to 21+. However, a few days before, they purposefully made the point to open it up to all ages and promote it as a “family” event.

Our source tells us that many in the Knoxville community have reached out to their local representatives and anyone else they could think of to help but have received no response from any of their city or county leadership.

She states that the goal in contacting lawmakers is to get a state law passed in Tennessee to prohibit drag performers from having access to minors. 

Our source tells us that Joshua Ricker, aka “Icky Stardust” is the main person pushing for the drag and kid events in Maryville and that Jason Jenkins, aka “Lady Grace” is the drag queen who pushed for and hosted the event at Hexagon Brewing Co. along with “Hexi Sunshine.”

Coffin Curse Records, host/sponsor of the previous drag events open to minors, is slated to have another one in November, organized and hosted by Ricker.  Originally their events were “all ages”, but they have now changed the wording to “18 and up unless accompanied by a parent or guardian”. 

Ricker has also been working to organize support, attend city council meetings, etc.

About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative  ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career.  Most recently, he served as Deputy Director for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others.  He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History.  Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com