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Drag queens are going to help raise money for a nearby animal sanctuary. And, no, I did not just make that up.
The Lionheart Theatre Co. at 10 College St. in Norcross, Ga., and Project Chimps in Morganton, Ga., are teaming up for a fundraiser Friday and Saturday nights to benefit the animal sanctuary, where 95 chimpanzees are living after being used in medical research, according to a release. The shows are recommended for ages 16 and older, clearly noting that it’s not suitable for all audiences.
The cleverly titled event, “Bananarama II,” will feature various drag personalities who are famous in their chosen field going ape, as well as a theatrical performance of the play Malcolm. General admission tickets are $30 and can be purchased at projectchimps.org/events.
Drag queens have dominated national headlines this year, and neighboring Tennessee even passed a law banning drag performances in public spaces and anywhere in the presence of someone under age 18. I found that kind of amusing since, for two decades, the Possum Drop – which was held on closed public streets in Brasstown – was advertised as a family friendly event, with no alcohol nor cursing, yet every year the ceremonies included a “womanless beauty pageant.”
In case you’re not sure what that is, a so-called womanless beauty pageant is when men dress up as women and dance around on stage to music, much to the delight of raucous crowds. If you can’t find a big difference between that and the public drag performances Tennessee has since banned, you’re not alone.
Perhaps the issue is at one event, mostly heterosexual men are playing dress-up, while in the other it’s mostly homosexual men. Or perhaps it’s just a colorful distraction from the real issues.
- According to a 2004 research study by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 4,392 Catholic priests and deacons in active ministry between 1950 and 2002 have been plausibly accused of underage sexual abuse by 10,667 individuals, with the majority of victims being boys ages 11-14. More than $3 billion has been awarded in compensation to the victims so far.
Of the 14 clergy listed from western North Carolina, one was in Cherokee County. Adelbert “Del” Holmes was accused of abusing three minors in 1976, when he served with St. William Catholic Church in Murphy. He died in 2013.
- The Southern Baptist Convention released a list in 2019 revealing more than 700 incidents of people associated with member churches who were accused or convicted of sex crimes, including molesting children, rape and soliciting prostitutes. Even worse, in all too many instances the offenses were overlooked by officials far more interested in protecting the church than in helping the abused.
That list does not include Dr. Jeffrey McCammon, former pastor of Mountain View Baptist Church in Stone Mountain, Ga., who lived in Cherokee County in 2015-16 and later faced charges of indecent liberties with a child and soliciting prostitution of a minor. He still hasn’t gone to trial, but his former stepdaughter – Meighan McCammon, who is not a victim in these cases – is keeping a spotlight on the case via social media.
- The powerful documentary The Secrets of Hillsong shows in sad detail that the church’s founding pastor, Frank Houston, had a long history of abusing young boys. Not only did no one stop him, church officials continued to place him in positions of honor even after he made a partial confession. Frank’s son, Brian Houston, has been charged with concealing child sex offenses in Australia, where Hillsong was founded in 1983.
- Another explosive documentary, Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets, shows how Josh Duggar’s parents tried to keep his sexual abuse and molestation under wraps for years to protect their image and reputation after starring in the reality television show 17 Kids and Counting. A state trooper friend even refused to reprimand Josh other than to give him a stern talking-to after he confessed to felony crimes; Josh is finally in jail today on child pornography charges.
Joe Bob and Michelle Duggars’ lack of concern for their other children is particularly appalling, but that sort of protection racket doesn’t just happen in other places. The Cherokee Scout published a front-page story years ago about a local woman whose family abandoned her after her uncle was charged with raping her and she testified against him.
- With about 200 lawsuits claiming child abuse pending in state and federal courts, the Boy Scouts of America listed more than 92,000 sexual abuse claims on file with the bankruptcy court. In March, the final settlement number was announced as $2.46 billion, creating the largest sexual abuse settlement fund in U.S. history.
The Coalition of Abused Scouts for Justice counts 18,000 sexual abuse survivors among its membership. These numbers are not just a shame, they are a national embarrassment.
There have been a fair amount of conspiracy theories concerning child abuse, especially for people who easily believe things without verifiable evidence. However, we don’t need to identify and prove a conspiracy to know there’s a problem – the numbers above are staring us in the face and crying out for someone to care.
My point in sharing these numbers is not to cast aspersions on these organizations, all which have done good works, but to point out that while drag queens are some politicians’ favorite bogeyman today, too many leaders we have blindly trusted with our children have violated that trust in the worst ways imaginable. Finding more effective ways to keep bad people out of positions working with children will have a
far more positive impact on the country than trying to keep drag queens out of the public eye.
Look, I’ve never been to a drag show, as it’s just not my kind of thing. That said, I’m a member of the official rankings panel for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and watching highly trained martial artists inflict damage on each other is not everybody’s cup of tea, either. I’ve always tried to be a live-and-let-live kind of person; as long as you’re not violating anybody else’s rights, I don’t have to approve of what you’re doing for you to live your life.
David Brown is publisher of the Cherokee Scout. You can reach him by phone, 828-837-5122; email, dbrown@