{"id":21035,"date":"2024-02-26T17:12:14","date_gmt":"2024-02-26T22:12:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=21035"},"modified":"2024-02-26T17:12:14","modified_gmt":"2024-02-26T22:12:14","slug":"childrens-museum-cancels-queer-prom-after-outrage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2024\/02\/childrens-museum-cancels-queer-prom-after-outrage","title":{"rendered":"Children\u2019s Museum Cancels \u201cqueer prom\u201d After Outrage"},"content":{"rendered":"
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An Ohio children\u2019s museum found itself under fire after it announced it would be hosting a \u201cqueer prom\u201d for LGBTQ+ youth ages 12-18 on February 10. The event was to be held at the Buckeye Imagination Station in Mansfield, OH and was sponsored by the LGBTQ+ advocacy group, Love On A Mission (LOAM). A poster for the event featured three drag performers who would be performing at the event and listed their names as Tina Jade Marlo, Miles N.S., and Anita B. The controversy erupted when it was noted that children as young as 12 would be attending the event and two of the drag queens had vulgar stage names. Miles N.S. is known as \u201cMiles N Sider\u201d and Anita B. is known as \u201cAnita B Boned.\u201d Ohio Frontlines<\/em><\/a> reported that it was unable to confirm if any of the performers had criminal histories due to their use of aliases but that \u201cSome of the acts posted by the performers on social media are too graphic to display.\u201d<\/p>\n

After reportedly receiving complaints from patrons and community members about the ages of children at the event and concerns over explicit behavior by the performers, the Buckeye Imagination Station posted on its Facebook<\/a> page that it would no longer be hosting the event. \u201cThank you for the concern regarding the recent scheduled rental event. As information about the event has been shared with us, the museum has concluded that we are no longer the facility who will host this event. At this time we are also taking steps to further ensure the appropriateness of future events at our museum,\u201d said the post. According to The Christian Post<\/em><\/a>, requests for comment on what information was shared about the event that led to the cancellation were not answered. The museum\u2019s Executive Director, Fred Boll, did release a separate statement<\/a> saying that the cancellation was not due to the prom being for LGBTQ+ students or community pressure. \u201cWe have supported LOAM (Love on a Mission) and we were happy to host its prom for LGBTQIA kids who don\u2019t have a prom at their school or can\u2019t bring a same-sex date to their school\u2019s prom. However, after learning that children ranging in age from 12 to 18 years old would attend the same prom, we determined it was not appropriate for us to host the event,\u201d said Boll. He added that, \u201cmost parents would not be comfortable with their 12-year-old dating an 18-year-old. What\u2019s appropriate for a 17- or 18-year-old student is not the same as what\u2019s OK for a 12-year-old child. And by hosting the event, the museum becomes liable for anything that occurs on its property, despite having no control over how the event is run and what performers say and do.\u201d<\/p>\n

LOAM responded to the cancelation on its Facebook<\/a>, saying it was \u201csaddened.\u201d It stated its purpose was to assist vulnerable LGBTQ+ students in the 12-18 range. \u201cUnfortunately, there are too many places and people that create unsafe and harmful settings for these young people to express themselves. LOAM wants to provide the opportunity for them to have the same experiences as other youths in a safe setting. This prom was to be one of those events,\u201d wrote the group. It acknowledged the performers but stated, \u201cThey were each asked to do one performance geared toward young people. While they also engage with adults in other venues, they were aware of their audience.\u201d Deena Hamilton, LOAM\u2019s event coordinator, stated other venues<\/a> had reached out to host the event and that it would be held at an \u201cundisclosed location for the children\u2019s safety.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An Ohio children\u2019s museum found itself under fire after it announced it would be hosting a \u201cqueer prom\u201d for LGBTQ+ youth ages 12-18 on February 10. The event was to be held at the Buckeye Imagination Station in Mansfield, OH and was sponsored by the LGBTQ+ advocacy group, Love On A Mission (LOAM). A poster…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":21062,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nChildren\u2019s Museum Cancels \u201cqueer prom\u201d After Outrage<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An Ohio children\u2019s museum found itself under fire after it announced it would be hosting a \u201cqueer prom\u201d for LGBTQ+ youth.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Children\u2019s Museum Cancels \u201cqueer prom\u201d After Outrage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An Ohio children\u2019s museum found itself under fire after it announced it would be hosting a \u201cqueer prom\u201d for LGBTQ+ youth.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2024\/02\/childrens-museum-cancels-queer-prom-after-outrage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Beliefnet News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-02-26T22:12:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2024\/02\/queer-prom-ohio_credit-Adobe-Stock.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cecilia Buchanan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Children\u2019s Museum Cancels \u201cqueer prom\u201d After Outrage","description":"An 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