UPDATED: Wichita State University to no longer host all ages drag show
Article/LGBT Issues and Education - 3 minute read
This post has been updated to include the response of Vice-President of Student Affairs Dr. Teri Hall.
Wichita State University is planning on hosting its 13th Annual Drag Show on Friday, March 31, 2023, at Wichita's WSU Eugene M. Hughes Metropolitan Complex. The event is sponsored by the Student Activities Council, Spectrum LGBTQ & Allies, and Office of Diversity & Inclusion. Originally, they advertised the event as an “all ages drag show,” with minors needing to be accompanied by a legal guardian. However, they recently updated it so that those in attendance must be at least 18 years of age.
The list of entertainers for the drag show include a variety of regional performers and student performers. Regional performers include drag kings with names like ‘Ladiesman’ and ‘Sexual Chocolate.’
The headlining drag performer, A'keria Chanel Davenport, holds the title of 2022 Miss Epitome, 2017–2018 of the "Miss Black Universe" title, and placed 3rd/4th on season 11 of Ru Paul’s Drag Race, a show that’s original rating was TV-14, meaning unsuitable for those under the age of 14 years. It was later rated TV-MA on Amazon Prime Video for “Mature Audience Only” (17 years and up). You can find performances of her on YouTube dancing to explicit music and twerking in revealing outfits.
One Instagram user posted WSU’s drag show announcement on March 7, writing, “No age limit, bring your children to this certain display of immorality and insecurity.”
Kansas Truth Caucus also informed their readers about the all ages drag show, with over 30 people sharing their post and some providing their thoughts on the event with some even calling for an end to federal funding of public universities.
At WSU, an in-state undergraduate campus resident taking 15 credit hours a semester will spend an estimated $28,910 for the 2023-2024 academic school year. Being a public university, WSU also receives federal funding which is paid for through taxes. WSU reported $192 million in fiscal year 2021 for total research and development (R&D) expenditures, and ranks 20th in the U.S. for engineering R&D funding.
We reached out to WSU’s Student Activities Council via email on Friday, March 24, 2023, to see why they updated the age restriction and why they believed an all ages drag show was okay to do in the first place. They refused to answer our questions, opting to refer us to Director of News and Media Relations for Wichita State, Lainie Mazzullo-Hart. We reached out to Mazzullo-Hart on Monday, March 27, 2023. The following statement from Vice-President of Student Affairs Dr. Teri Hall was provided,
“At Wichita State, we want to ensure that our students continue to have access to a wide breadth of student life activities and experiences. We are continually evaluating such events to ensure they reach that goal. The drag show, like many campus events, is open to the public, but students – who are 18 and older – are the priority. Similarly, WSU hosts other events, such as the NXT LVL Garage Party, the upcoming SAINT MOTEL concert and last year’s Wale concert that are also 18 and up. We will continue to evaluate other new and existing WSU events to best reach our students.”
Senate Bill 149 was referred to Committee on Judiciary on Friday, February 3, 2023, where it still sits. This bill, if passed, would expand the crime of promoting obscenity to minors to include drag performances in Kansas. It would not outlaw drag performances for adults, similar to other bills being voted on across the U.S.
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Ian, thank you so much for writing on this subject. Adults are driving this issue and it is doing lifelong damage to children. Let children be children. Educators have lost their way, children need a traditional education. I saw this 30 years ago and started a classical Academy when everyone thought the problems were not at their child's school.