LGBTQ supporters in Fairbanks are upset because the Tanana Valley State Fair (TVSF) has announced that they are cancelling the “Glam Show” drag performance in this year’s fair. The event was sponsored by the LGBTQ community in Fairbanks, and this past offseason, many parents had complained that the event was not appropriate at a venue where children were present. I understand where these parents are coming from, based on an experience my daughter had when she was put in a similar situation a few years ago.

First, when writing on controversial issues of this nature, I need to include the obligatory disclaimer.

I am not attacking members of the LGBTQ community, or what they do in private with consenting adults. Throughout my working career, I have worked with a few professional peers who belonged to that community, and I treated them with the respect that their job title and professionalism warranted. We are all God’s children, and who am I to judge others?

Yes, LGBTQ supporters have a First Amendment right to assemble and speak their opinion on matters important to them, but on that day, they stole a little bit of my daughter’s innocence, and I will not forgive them for that.

There, that being said, let me tell you my daughter’s story. When she was 5 years old, we were still living up in Anchorage. A youth organization she participated in (I am being intentionally vague) entered a float into the annual Fur Rendezvous parade. By some accident of fate, my daughter’s parade float full of young girls was placed immediately next to one sponsored by an LGBTQ organization. Like all parades, there is a challenging logistical coordination required, and due to the possibility of congestion in the downtown area of Anchorage delaying the start of the parade, my daughter had to be present in the staging area on her float for 2 hours before the parade was scheduled to begin.

During the time waiting before the parade started and during the 1-hour parade, my daughter had a ringside seat to the participants on the LGBTQ parade float. Their float was equipped with a sound system that played the Katy Perry song “I Kissed a Girl” loudly on a loop, over and over and over again, and these individuals were “flamboyant” in their attire and behavior. When I say flamboyant, I mean really flamboyant, like men wearing red sequined ball gowns and elbow-length white gloves, flamboyant.

Nothing the folks on the Pride float did was illegal. There was no nudity or anything that crossed that line, but the entire schtick was very overt, and the message they were promoting was obvious to every adult who saw them. I can understand being confident in who they are as individuals, but the behavior of the folks on the pride float was so stereotypical and over-the-top, it was cringeworthy. I think the relatively normal Gay and Lesbian people in the parade audience might have felt an enormous sense of embarrassment when they saw this float go by.

Needless to say, my little 5-year-old daughter got an eyeful that day and had lots of questions when the parade was over. My wife and I were forced to have a discussion of adult sexuality with a 5-year-old that we hadn’t planned on having at this point in her life. Of course, our conversation was age-appropriate when we explained the situation to her, but it was a conversation we had not planned on having with her at such a young age.

Yes, LGBTQ supporters have a First Amendment right to assemble and speak their opinion on matters important to them, but on that day, they stole a little bit of my daughter’s innocence, and I will not forgive them for that. I was reminded of the old saying, “Your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins”.

Regarding the Glam Show in Fairbanks, I can understand why the parents complained about the inclusion of an LGBTQ-supportive drag show at the TVSF. They don’t want their children exposed to this kind of activity that promotes alternative sexual behavior. There is no need for drag shows at family events, any more than we would allow one of the big city strip clubs to put on a striptease show for children or teach kids to pole dance. There is a place for adult entertainment, and it isn’t at a public venue with children present.

This issue isn’t about attacking someone’s sexual identity or who they love. This issue is about protecting the innocence of children. I believe stopping the Glam show was the correct decision. The LGBTQ supporters should find another way to celebrate their lifestyle that doesn’t involve grooming children.

The views expressed here are those of Greg Sarber. Read more Sarber posts at his Seward’s Folly substack.

Click here to support the Alaska Watchman.