UPDATE: After concerned citizens contacted the venue, Basin Pride announced Friday that the event had been “temporarily postponed.”
A group called Basin Pride is featuring drag queens at an “all ages” Barbie-themed party this Saturday in Midland.
The event is being held at I Love My Selfie, located in the Imperial Shopping Center on Wadley Avenue.
The “Pink Party” will feature “local Permian Basin” drag queens Khloé Kalienté, Summer Peachez, and Rye Sin.
Basin Pride bills itself as “a social committee under Pride Center West Texas made up of LGBTQN+ community members from the Permian Basin.”
An ad for the event encourages attendees to “Hang Out In Barbie’s Dreamhouse,” one of the rotating sets in which customers pay to take pictures of themselves while at the venue.
Local residents reacted to the group’s ad on social media.
“Midland, you need to show up and show your disapproval for this ALL AGES event!” said Teresa Beckmeyer, a conservative activist who lives in the area.
“Midland has become too liberal,” said city resident James Pritchard.
“I’m a native born Midlander. I’ve lived here for 64 yrs. An all age drag queen show with a Barbie theme (to pull in children) has zero place in our city. I’ve called and emailed state and city officials about the event. No response from any one!! The venue I LOVE MY SELFIE hosts children’s birthday parties. Sick!” Tony Faller told Texas Scorecard.
Other Texans also noticed and responded.
“Every pastor should be standing in the pulpit denouncing, but most are too afraid to say anything,” said Bill Meeker.
“If you sit on your hands, you are part of the problem,” said Eloy Heras.
During the 2023 legislative session, Texas lawmakers passed Senate Bill 12 by State Sen. Bryan Hughes (R–Mineola) as part of the Texas GOP’s priority to stop sexualizing kids. SB 12 did not specifically outlaw allowing children at drag shows but banned “sexually oriented performances” in front of minors.
However, the law is not in effect. The ACLU sued, and a federal district court judge ruled the ban was unconstitutional. The case is now pending before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Republican State Sen. Kevin Sparks, who represents Midland, told Texas Scorecard:
It is disappointing that there is a drag show event in our community that is open to minors. The continual sexualization of our children is no doubt adding to the anxiety and confusion common among their generation today. I sincerely hope that SB 12 will be allowed to go into effect by the Fifth Circuit so that Texas children will be protected from both drag shows and other types of performances that are sexually oriented in nature.
“These vile events have no place in Texas (or anywhere for that matter), and certainly not in the presence of children,” said Texas Family Project President Brady Gray. His organization’s Defend Our Kids, Texas initiative worked for months toward the passage of SB 12.
“Texans must take a stand and refuse to allow this sexualization of minors to continue,” Gray added. “They should call the venue and ask that they not host this degeneracy.”
The event is scheduled for Saturday, January 20, from 5-10 p.m.
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