Gov. Ron DeSantis is looking to take away the liquor license of a Miami restaurant that allows children at their drag brunch shows.
The governor filed a complaint against R House in Wynwood after the conservative outrage wellspring Libs of TikTok hosted a video of a drag queen walking hand-in-hand with a child during one of the shows.
The complaint was filed under laws against public nuisances in Florida. Investigations of the restaurant found that they have a children’s menu, understandably as they are a restaurant. Still, DeSantis acted incredulous while speaking at a Tampa press conference.
“We said wait a minute, having kids involved in this is wrong,” DeSantis said. “That is not consistent with our law and policy in the state of Florida and it is a disturbing trend in our society to try to sexualize these young people. That is not the way you look out for our children, you protect children, you do not expose them to things that are inappropriate.”
DeSantis repeatedly mischaracterized the R House as a bar to gin up outrage that a restaurant would allow children in with their parents at a weekend brunch.
“They actually had agents going to this place and effectively just gathering information, getting intelligence, seeing what’s going on,” DeSantis said. “And what they found was, not only were there minors there — and these are sexually explicit drag shows — the bar had a children’s menu. And you think to yourself: ‘Give me a break, what’s going on?”
R House issued a response, saying that DeSantis is “misunderstanding” them.
“We are hopeful that Governor DeSantis, a vociferous supporter and champion of Florida’s hospitality industry and small businesses, will see this as what it is, a misunderstanding, and that the matter will be resolved positively and promptly,” they said.