Rep. Matt Rosendale has introduced legislation prohibiting the Department of Defense from using taxpayer funds to host or support adult cabaret performances.
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Mr. Rosendale, Montana Republican, authored the bill after the Defense Department hosted several drag shows at military installations nationwide.
“Anything that does not help our troops be the most effective fighting force on earth is a distraction and a waste of resources,” Mr. Rosendale said in a statement Monday. “Drag performances on our military bases are another example of the Biden administration promoting woke, leftist propaganda while neglecting their duty to protect the American people – which is why I’m proud to introduce this legislation.”
In June 2021, Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, Montana, hosted a ‘Drag Queen Story Hour’ for children. The base is in Mr. Roendale’s district.
Other drag performances were held at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada and on the USS Ronald Reagan. Shows at Nellis and Ramstein Air Base in Germany scheduled for this month as part of Pride month were canceled, defense officials confirmed to military.com.
According to Mr. Rosendale’s office, he sent letters to leadership at the Department of Defense on March 31, April 25, and May 8 requesting information on why shows were allowed to happen and if any taxpayer money funds them.
Other GOP lawmakers also began questioning senior officials at the Defense Department about the drag shows and by June 1, the Department of Defense announced it would enforce their longstanding policy of not allowing drag shows on U.S. military installations.
Although Mr. Rosendale was satisfied by this outcome, according to his office, he introduced the legislation because he did not trust the Biden administration to enforce such a policy when it relies on promoting “woke policies.”
Republicans were incensed last month when it became known that the Navy brought on an active-duty drag queen to help the service improve its poor recruiting numbers.
Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley, who went by the stage name Harpy Daniels, announced the Navy invited him to be the first “Navy Digital Ambassador” in a November 2022 social media post, emphasizing how he went from being on deck in 2018 to being a “leader” and “advocate” of people who “were oppressed for years in the service.”
Transgender individuals in the military became a national issue when former President Trump banned servicemembers with gender dysphoria, who were taking hormones or had gone through a gender reassignment surgery, from serving.
President Biden reversed that policy within his first week of taking office. In 2021, transgender military members could serve openly for the first time.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.