The Starlighter venue in San Antonio, Texas, has canceled the rest of their “all ages” drag events for 2022 after a journalist made a video report on what was happening inside.
Journalist Tayler Hansen attended the “All Ages” Christmas Drag Show and recorded the events that he witnessed.
“A child was left unattended without parents throughout the entire show,” Hansen tweeted with a video. “A Drag Queen was touching and stroking a child’s hair. Attendees gave the child money to give to the Queens.”
“The event was advertised for ‘All Ages,’” Hansen continued. “The venue played the entire Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer movie prior to the show. At 3:42 in the video above you can see a Drag Queen playing with the child’s hair after learning her parents were not in attendance.”
“The Starlighter Instagram advertises ‘All Ages’ Drag Shows consistently, this is not the first time they have hosted a show like this,” Hansen continued. “Another ‘All Ages’ Drag Show is being hosted on the 4th of December. The only time their shows are 18+ is when something TV-MA is screened.”
On Sunday, the venue announced that they were cancelling all of their all-ages drag events for the rest of the year.
The Starlighter’s goal has always been to provide a safe all ages space for entertainment & unfortunately we’re now being made to feel unsafe in our own space,” the venue said in a statement. “We’re being bullied and threatened both online in comments, reviews, & tweets.”
“For the safety of our queens, staff, & patrons we’re canceling all of the drag events for the remainder of the year,” the statement continued. “This was a decision made between the queens & The Starlighter owners as a safety measure & nothing more.”
The venue claimed that the child is question is the daughter of their food vendor, who was outside the event.