I’m pretty sure we as a society would be aghast that this happened in any other circumstance, but it appears that since this event happened in a gay bar and the boy is a famous drag queen then everything that occurred here is somehow a societal positive.
According to the DailyWire, 11-year-old Desmond, known to many as “Desmond is Amazing” appeared at a gay bar in Brooklyn, NY, and danced on stage as patrons threw dollar bills at him. Desmond performed “I’m Just a Girl” by No Doubt, dressed up as a Gwen Stefani-lookalike. The Daily Wire reported that even some of the patrons found the entire scene a bit disgusting and left as a result, but many stayed and encouraged the performance by throwing money at the child like a stripper:
The performance, first flagged by YouTuber Yosef Ozia, was promoted on Eventbrite by 3 Dollar Bill.
“Only in New York… a nightclub that makes you go WHOA!!!,” reads the promotion. “FEATURING: Upcoming Legend from Television and the Runway: DESMOND IS AMAZING!!! PERFORMING LIVE! … This stage, this dance floor, this house… is ours as long as we protect it.”
The promotional ad notes that 3 Dollar Bill bar is “queer owned & operated and we foster a safe space from love. We respect all human persons as long as those human persons are also respectful to the ones around them.”
“I left after seeing a child dance on stage for money at nighttime. This was on Saturday night and I have been feeling disturbed ever since,” wrote a one-star reviewer of 3 Dollar Bill on December 3 via Yelp.
You can see YouTuber Yosef Ozia cover the topic below. I’ll warn you, it does show footage of the child dancing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcGHC-hYwKg&t=131s
Naturally, this kind of sexualization of a child would have the populace raging, but again, Desmond and the club fall under a certain societal category, and thus a child dancing like a female on stage while patrons treat him like a stripper is somehow stunning and brave.
Just ask The Daily Beast, who according to the DailyWire celebrated the event:
Left-wing site The Daily Beast gushed over Desmond and his progressive parents in a disturbing piece from February, titled, “RuPaul Loves ‘Drag Kid’ Desmond. You Will Too. Fiercely.” In June, the TODAY Show promoted the over-sexualized child: “Meet the 10-year-old ‘drag kid’ taking over social media with inspiring message,” reads the caption to a video interview with Desmond.
“It is really amazing being in the spotlight because I get so much support and I’m an inspiration to so many people, which is one of my number one goals,” Desmond told The Daily Beast. “I like all the fame, and helping the LGBT community fight for our rights.”
The sexualization of children is disgusting in any form, and encouraging kids to dress up in drag and dance for strangers at a bar isn’t helping the LGBT community fight for its rights. There is no “inspiring message” here.
We have kids being taken away from their parents because they played outside in the yard by themselves and the authorities are calling it neglect. Sexualize your child in front of a crowd of drunken strangers at a bar, however, and The Daily Beast might write a congratulatory article about your parenting skills.
I want to make something very clear. What was celebrated here wasn’t the freedom of expression or the ability of the homosexual community to exist in the open. What was celebrated here was pedophilia. Even if the patrons had no sexual attraction toward the boy, having a child make sexual moves on stage and cheering it on is the sexualization of a child. Period.
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