{"id":20250,"date":"2024-01-08T15:43:55","date_gmt":"2024-01-08T20:43:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=20250"},"modified":"2024-01-08T15:43:55","modified_gmt":"2024-01-08T20:43:55","slug":"faith-group-holds-prayer-vigil-against-christmas-drag-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2024\/01\/faith-group-holds-prayer-vigil-against-christmas-drag-show","title":{"rendered":"Faith Group Holds Prayer Vigil Against Christmas Drag Show"},"content":{"rendered":"
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BroadwaySF \/ YouTube<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Not all Christmas festivities this past Christmas were met with enthusiasm. One venue in Bakersfield, California, arranged to have a Christmas drag show in the area. \u201cA Drag Queen Christmas,\u201d hosted by Fox Theater in Bakersfield, touted itself as \u201cthe longest-running drag tour in America.\u201d The show is recommended for those 18 and older due to its explicit nature.<\/span><\/p>\n

One local pastor, however, was not willing to sit by while the event happened in his community. Angelo Frazier, pastor of RiverLakes Community Church, organized a \u201cPrayer and Scripture Reading Vigil\u201d against the event, inviting hundreds of people from other churches to pray with him outside the theater on December 17, the day of the show. Speaking to local station <\/span>KBAK<\/span><\/a>, Frazier called the event a \u201cperversion.\u201d \u201cIt’s naughty all the way through. It\u2019s nasty, it\u2019s perversion. It\u2019s taking Christmas and turned it into a sexual show, that’s what it is, and it’s happening here in Bakersfield, California,\u201d he said. Despite Christmas being more and more secularized throughout the years, Frazier noted that Christmas \u201cis still a traditional holiday.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Frazier has <\/span>opposed the event since June<\/span><\/a>, when tickets were first announced for it. At the time, he led another prayer vigil, telling KBAK, \u201cChristmas is sacred, Christmas is a time for all ages, and when you can just take things and mock them, and you call it entertainment, I think that\u2019s wrong.\u201d A counter-protester who identified herself as a \u201cpracticing Catholic,\u201d Nadine Escalante, accused Frazier and his group of hate. \u201cThis is disgusting how disrespectful you adults are to our children growing up in this community. It is because of you our children do not feel safe in this community,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The December 17 prayer vigil occurred at 6:30, with the show scheduled to start at 8. Speaking at the vigil, Frazier denied any accusations of hate. \u201cThe other side just wants to hate, and do all these other things, we don’t want to hate, we want to say there\u2019s a better way. I think it’s wrong for kids, I think it\u2019s wrong for families, as a matter of fact the message of Christmas is goodwill, great joy for all the people. This that’s happening here in Bakersfield, is perversion of Christmas, and as a Christian, I feel an obligation to say something about it,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Drag shows have been a point of controversy between conservative and liberal pundits, with conservatives calling out explicit drag shows where\u00a0<\/span>young children can be seen in the audience<\/span><\/a>. Liberals state that drag shows are a part of LGBTQ+ culture and allow individuals in that community to express themselves. The Fox Theater has not commented on any of the controversy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not all Christmas festivities this past Christmas were met with enthusiasm. One venue in Bakersfield, California, arranged to have a Christmas drag show in the area. \u201cA Drag Queen Christmas,\u201d hosted by Fox Theater in Bakersfield, touted itself as \u201cthe longest-running drag tour in America.\u201d The show is recommended for those 18 and older due…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":20265,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nFaith Group Holds Prayer Vigil Against Christmas Drag Show<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"One venue in Bakersfield, California, arranged to have a Christmas drag show in the area.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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