Friday was Ana Navarro’s birthday and she and her colleagues on ABC’s The View marked the occasion by welcoming and celebrating a bunch of drag queens from the R House, which was investigated by Florida. Naturally, the investigation was mentioned in order to allow Navarro to claim R House defeated Gov. Ron DeSantis, but the reason for the investigation was never mentioned.
Sara Haines offered up an affirmation for the guests, “One of my favorite things about a drag show is there’s no one's that's out of place at a drag show. It does feel so inclusive which I love, but the R House is located in Miami, which is under the state rule of Governor DeSantis and I know he's really come for drag shoe-- shows and LGBTQ+ communities lately—”
Amidst the laughter from Haines’s shoes/shows slip up, Joy Behar would ask “What's his problem? What's his problem?”
DeSantis’s “problem” with R House was summarized by NBC’s Miami affiliate in September, “Gov. Ron DeSantis announced in July 2022 that an investigation by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation was launched following the release of a video showing an exposed drag queen and young girl hand-in-hand at an R House show. In the clip, the drag queen is seen wearing lingerie as she parades the girl around the restaurant.”
In the accompanying video, NBC Miami censors the drag queen in question the way that a network would typically censor frontal nudity. They go onto report that the state and R House settled with R House paying a fine, but not having to admit guilt.
Eventually, Haines continued, “Why is it so important now more than ever to keep performing?”
One of the assembled drag queens, who goes by the name Athena Dion, answered that, “Drag shows bring people together. When you come to our show, you leave your problems at the door. You leave whatever the governor said at the door, whatever the president said at the door, you don't want to hear about them on our show. You come to hear Cher, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, have a good time.”
Dion added, “And regardless of where you come from, regardless of who you are, you're all there to celebrate one thing: the drag queens, the show, the art that we're providing and you become closer together. I’ve seen people who would probably never talk to each other on the streets, they come to our show and leave laughing and joking and it's a place where people come together. It's magic.”
Behar further wondered, “Do you think that maybe DeSantis secretly wants to get dressed up in lady's clothes. Is that possible?”
As for Navarro she omitted the context surrounding the investigation as she tried to suggest his fight with R House has something to do with his presidential poll numbers, “Anyway, I think it’s really important that we understand it's not that DeSantis went after, you know, LGBTQ and drag. He went after The R House in specific. He tried to shut them down for over a year, they've been under attack and targeted, they've been terrorized. They spent a fortune in legal fees and so you know what, the drag queens survived and his campaign is dead.”
One can debate why DeSantis’s presidential numbers are what they are, but it is silly to pretend that the man who won re-election by almost 20 points is being punished by Republicans for opposing lingerie-clad drag queens parading around with young children.
Here is a transcript for the January 5 show:
ABC The View
1/5/2024
11:05 AM ET
SARA HAINES: One of my favorite things about a drag show is there’s no one's that's out of place at a drag show.
[crosstalk]
HAINES: It does feel so inclusive which I love, but the R House is located in Miami, which is under the state rule of Governor DeSantis and I know he's really come for drag shoe-- shows and LGBTQ+ communities lately--
ATHENA DION: And our shoes too.
JOY BEHAR: What's his problem? What's his problem?
HAINES: Why is it so important now more than ever to keep performing?
DION: Well, let me tell you something, the arts saves lives. Can I get an amen?
[crosstalk]
DION: Drag shows bring people together. When you come to our show, you leave your problems at the door. You leave whatever the governor said at the door, whatever the president said at the door, you don't want to hear about them on our show. You come to hear Cher, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, have a good time.
And regardless of where you come from, regardless of who you are, you're all there to celebrate one thing: the drag queens, the show, the art that we're providing and you become closer together. I’ve seen people who would probably never talk to each other on the streets, they come to our show and leave laughing and joking and it's a place where people come together. It's magic.
HAINES: I love it. I love it.
BEHAR: Do you think that maybe DeSantis secretly wants to get dressed up in lady's clothes. Is that possible?
DION: Well, he has my number, so I don’t know—
ANA NAVARRO: Anyway, I think it’s really important that we understand it's not that DeSantis went after, you know, LGBTQ and drag. He went after The R House in specific. He tried to shut them down for over a year, they've been under attack and targeted, they've been terrorized. They spent a fortune in legal fees and so you know what, the drag queens survived and his campaign is dead.
