Tarrant County's chief executive is going after a club that hosted an all-ages drag show.
In a letter sent last week to State Comptroller Glenn Hegar, Tarrant County Judge Tim O'Hare is asking him to investigate and take action against a club in Fort Worth's Near Southside neighborhood.
"On March 27, 2023, a live music and performance venue in Fort Worth, Tulips FTW, hosted a drag show open to all ages," Judge O'Hare writes in his two-page letter to Comptroller Hegar. "According to multiple media reports, one of the so-called 'performers' may have exposed himself to the audience, which contained children."
KRLD spoke with performer Kiba Walker who says O'Hare's claim is simply not true.
"As a drag performer I wear very many layers of clothing ... 15 to almost 18 layers of clothing underneath my actual outfit," Walker said. "When I was sitting on stage hosting, someone took a screenshot while he was adjusting, switching legs to sit, and they got a part of my thigh which, by the way, is still covered (with) underwear on. There's no nudity on stage."
O'Hare claims by hosting the all-ages drag show, Tulips FTW was operating as an unlicensed sexually-oriented business, and the Texas legislature grants Hegar the power to launch an investigation.
"While I am heartened that the owner of the physical property in which Tulips FTW operates has reportedly banned the business from hosting any additional all-ages drag shows, this private action does not address what may have already transpired, nor hold accountable those responsible," writes O'Hare.
O'Hare's letter comes as the legislature continues debating Senate Bill 12, which calls for fines of up to $10,000 for businesses that host sexually-oriented performances, including drag shows, with children under the age of 18 present.
The bill has passed the State Senate and is currently in the House State Affairs Committee.
"I think it's really interesting that we're at a point where we're grasping at straws to try and make drag a crime or villainize drag performers," says Walker, "when in reality it's just trying to silence queer voices and queer people."
Walker says this rhetoric is rooted in ignorance.
"We are endangering queer lives and queer youth and just regular youth in general who don't know who they are," says Walker, "because we're putting out all this hateful dialogue and all this fear."
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