Florida governor Ron DeSantis has pulled the liquor license of the Hyatt Regency Miami following news that the luxury hotel hosted a holiday-themed drag show in December with minors present.
During the December break, the high-end hotel hosted “A Drag Queen Christmas” featuring prosthetic genitals, performers rubbing fake breasts on audience members, “simulated masturbation” as well as “graphic depictions of childbirth and/or abortion,” a complaint filed with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) reported.
Despite the nature of the performance, Hyatt Regency Miami did not warn prospective attendees of its explicit nature insisting that “all ages [were] welcome,” the complaint added.
Following the complaint the DBPR stated it was “revoking the venue’s license for the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages,” a statement from Bryan Griffin, the press secretary of Governor DeSantis, noted. “Sexually explicit content is not appropriate to display to children and doing so violates Florida law. Governor DeSantis stands up for the innocence of children in the classroom and throughout Florida.”
The Hyatt Regency Miami had been warned earlier by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation that if it hosted a “sexually explicit show with children present,” it would face sanctions.
While the hotel later appended an “18+” disclaimer following the complaint on forthcoming marketing material, it still admitted minors into the performance which featured members of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
“As a result, minors attended and were knowingly admitted,” the complaint asserted. “During the Show and in the presence of persons less than 16 years of age, performers appeared on stage wearing sexually suggestive clothing and prosthetic female genitalia.”
During a rendition of the song “Screwdolph the Red-Nippled Reindeer,” performers regaled the crowd with lyrics such as: “You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen Vomit and Stupid and Dildo and Di**s-in.”
The organization Equality Florida, a local group that advocates for LGBTQ rights, denounced the move as “selectively weaponizing” arms of the state government against drag performers.
“How far will he take this anti-LGBTQ crusade in his desperate attempt to outrace his inevitable presidential primary opponents? Will he raid movie theaters because parents take their teenagers to see R-rated movies? Will he punish electronics stores because parents buy their children certain video games?” a spokesperson for the group told Business Insider.
Similar concerns were echoed by Kate Ruane, a director at PEN America, a free speech organization who denounced the announcement as “deeply concerning.”
“A fundamental tenet of the First Amendment is that the government should not punish people simply because it disapproves of the content of their speech,” Ruane told Business Insider.
The Hyatt Regency Miami has three weeks to request a hearing and is allowed to sell alcohol during the intervening period.