After weeks of speculation, the Tanana Valley State Fair has finally clarified that it will not be hosting an LGBTQ “Glam” drag show at this year’s fair.
The board of Alaska’s oldest fair released a statement on July 11, suggesting that the decision to nix the Glam show was made under psychological duress.
“A Glam Show is not scheduled during the 2025 Tanana Valley State Fair,” the board stated. “The Board of Directors of the Tanana Valley State Fair Association have spent months listening to members of the Fairbankds area. This process has been painful for all involved.”
Without providing any examples, or context, the board then claimed it has been “harassed” during this time of decision.
“Struggles continue with harassment, which has taken its toll on the TVSFA, its staff, and out Fairbanks community,” the board asserted.
The statement passes no judgment on the merits of hosting a drag show at the family friendly fair, but merely claims that the decision to cancel the event was “an operational and logistical decision in the interest of all parties involved.”
“Everyone is welcome to the Fairgrounds, and we merely wish to present a Fair environment that is safe and responsive to our community,” the statement concludes.
This past winter, previous board members cancelled the previously planned LGBTQ drag queen show after the Alaska Watchman ran a story detailing the fact that a group called Out at the Fair (OATF) had arranged to perform a “Glam Show” with cross-dressing drag queens and kings on July 29. The event was planned as ticketed entertainment in the fair’s main big-top tent.
OATF operates by establishing initial footholds at family-oriented fairs around the country, moving from smaller private events to eventually becoming officially sponsored vendors and entertainers with gay-themed concerts and dances, LGBTQ photo booths, erotic acrobatic shows, kids’ games and other activities. Many of the events entail scantily clad, highly sexualized cross-dressers.
News of the previously planned drag performance at the Tanana fair sparked massive community pushback, and three days after the Watchman story ran, the fair issued a March statement saying the “Glam Show” had been cancelled for the 2025 fair.
Shortly after that decision, however, the board added five new faces to its nine-member body.
Some of the newly elected board members are intent on reviving the quest to bring LGBTQ drag shows into the 101-year-old fair – a gathering that has been historically focused on livestock, games, rides and other traditional fair experiences.Top of FormBottom of Form
The board convened on June 18 to discuss the status of “Glam Show” performances.
ALASKA WATCHMAN DIRECT TO YOUR INBOX
A concerned Fairbanks resident caught wind of the meeting and informed the Alaska Watchman of what went down.
Attendees were overwhelmingly LGBTQ activists, who were notified about the meeting with plenty of time to mobilize, even though there was no mention of the board meeting to the wider public, and no agenda posted to the fair’s website.
One of the new board members suggested the fair issue a public apology for canceling the drag performance and then create a new “equity policy” to guide future decisions.
It’s clear that members of the LGBTQ community are laser focused on changing the fair, and now have activists working as senior staff, including David Leslie, the fair’s executive assistant, who identifies online as a queer “dancer, actor, choreographer, fire spinner, filmmaker, burlesquer, writer and anti-fascist activist.”
While there won’t be any Glam Shows at this year’s fair, the board has left the door open for next year.
TAKING ACTION
— Click here to contact the Tanana Valley State Fair board of directors with any concerns or suggestions.
— To contact the fair headquarters, email operations@tvsfa.org or call (907) 452-3750, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
25 Comments
That’s a shame they cancelled it. Too much pressure from the looney Christion neocons.. The 49th state sure is headed backwards.
“……..Too much pressure from the looney Christion neocons………..”
Looks to me like it was just the right amount.
Oh come on, Jonesy. You can probably still catch a hot load off the fairgrounds, eh? Satisfy your thirst and bruise up your patella before you attend and the venue will be less divisive.
Well.. It’s a free country.. You could always move back to california to be closer to those that you would fit in with.
Drag performers being so militant that they have to shove their “art” in your face everywhere you look.
If drag performances were any good on their own, they would not need the backing of government and corporations to force submission.
Just like I will not be forced to go to church, I shall also not be forced to watch drag.
To be fair though, the State Fair would be the appropriate place for the circus freaks to perform.
Yeah, I dunno…they’re not circus freaks, they’re getting their jollies by impersonating and demeaning women. If they wanted to put on a Blackface show and impersonate persons of color in a degrading, highly sexualized manner, they would not be allowed to host public performances anywhere, and even the wokest mamas wouldn’t think it was cool to bring their kids to such a show.
Why is it socially acceptable for homosexual men to degrade and make a mockery of women? American society champions women’s rights and praises those women who raise their families while holding powerful positions in the workplace or in politics, but we also make room for and celebrate those narcissistic men who put on lipstick and wigs and pretend that women are no more that sexual objects -and corporations and branches of the government promote this derogatory behavior! What is wrong with our conscience and understanding as a society? Are women no more than disposable toys if homosexual men deem them so, or are they worthy of appreciation, protection, and admiration? Do women have a place in society that is worth defending, or is the price of worldly success the approval of their own abuse and misuse? Women need to figure this out just as much as men if we’re to have any hope of resuscitating Western civilization. I suggest we try!
The groomers need to be told NO, you will not be allowed to bring your sexual perversion to this family centered event. Have your own ADULT ONLY drag show at an adult venue, no children permitted. And stop whining about being a victim of harassment when community members do not welcome your grooming practices.
I don’t think you could have picked a more sinister photo to accompany your article. Of course, I’m sure that was deliberate.
Are you saying you would prefer a kinder, gentler, face of depravity?
There are no less “sinister” photos of drag queens. They wear womanface and mock real women, they are oversexed and offensive on every level. They are pornographic, which has never been acceptable in public, let alone in private. And apparently one of the kicks is from forcing people to watch them degrade themselves. There is not one single redeeming quality to drag.
Finally someone is standing up to this 1% of SICK people. Next year will be the test.
But I’m afraid I might get canceled or no likes.
The men and women that watch this have to be among the sickest segment of our society. I suggest that if this crap comes to the Fair in Fairbank that REAL WOMEN get up and block their show with one of their own and see who gets the attention.
I’ve seen a pretty good cross section of the Fairbanks populace and am just going to throw it out there that your solution may contain a flaw.
I wonder what the most objectionable aspect of this is? I personally don’t have a preference for what other consenting adults do in private and my primary issue isn’t that some guy might like to mount another dude while one or both are dressed in women’s clothing. My primary issue is that this is an attempt to make others revere those that enjoy an even more unusual form of flggotry. I truly believe that if flags just kept aberrant behavior private there would be no issue… but a small group of them insist that you celebrate homosexual acts and that’s never going to do anything more than place the ostentatious at risk. A risk for which there is no reward.
Whatever. There’s a ton of goofy dumb stuff that people do in public. Like drag races (the motor kind) or rodeos. I don’t attend; that’s the solution for me. Mind your own business seems like an easy way to make a win win.
Manny, these races, rodeos people attend. Not this drag-bullsh!! being throw in our faces wherever we go. Keep your sick, disgusting, evil, vial, dementia sin, away from children and in public places.
Can’t. To look the other way is acceptance and there’s no benefit to accepting someone else’s perversion.
My own? No problem. That of others? Not so much.
The nonsensical aspect makes one wonder what might be demanded next. If someone is irrational enough to think that sodomy, felching and fellatio are reasonable entertainment at a children’s venue, what might they promote next, demonstrations? Oh wait… a parody of these are their fair exhibit. Can’t you do that in private, Manny?
Proud. Your reaction seems emotionally unjustified. Is it Christian dogma that creates such anger? A mythology that tells you how to behave, but that’s not enough. You have to tell others how to behave. Just avoid stuff you don’t like; how tricky is that?
No us Christian’s are just pointing out your SIN. If you steal, beat your wife and we don’t see it,
nothing will be said. But if we see you sin Yes we’ll say something.
How do I avoid your sickening sin, it’s in my face at every turn. So I’m going to say something.
Sure, they can be entertaining to those who want to watch them.
The drag community as worn out their welcome and their “inclusivity” has burned their bridges all over.
When drag community inserts themselves everywhere and there is no way to avoid them without giving up what we like to be around, we will push back on fascist left and all their ideologies that are abusive towards normal regular people trying to live their lives without all the emotional blackmail.
Fascist left?
If they cave into the LGBT community and allow them to put on a show at the fair, why not put on a strip/burlesque show for us heterosexuals so we can see real women preform instead of wannabees. And to be fair they should also include a male strip show for women.
Kid’s games???
It’s “funny” (strange, not ‘haha!’) that the Drag ?show? is sooo popular that the new fair council members have to SNEAK it into the lineup.
A Glam Show is not scheduled during the 2025 Tanana Valley State Fair,” the board stated.
. . . This process has been painful for all involved.” What an absolute pile of horse shite.
Nobody wants sleaze, slant or soft porn, deviant “entertainment” at a historically family & agrarian annual event. Next, remove the activist board members.
The fight for a family friendly fair will never end, it appears.