Florida’s attorney general announced Tuesday that he opened an investigation into the vice mayor of Vero Beach over a drag show held last month.
Attorney General James Uthmeier alleged the “Pride Tea Dance” that Vice Mayor Linda Moore held at the Kilted Mermaid, a wine bar she’s owned for more than a decade, exposed children to a “sexualized performance.”
Uthmeier’s office said Moore advertised the Pride Tea Dance on social media as “all ages welcome,” but that the drag performances “featured adult, sexualized performers in front of children, in violation of Florida law,” according to a press release from the attorney general’s office.
Neither the press release nor the subpoena Uthmeier’s office sent Moore on July 8 specify what state law(s) she is under investigation for allegedly violating. Uthmeier’s office did not immediately respond to questions.
The subpoena, which Moore has to respond to by Aug. 8, requested surveillance video recordings of the exterior and interior of the Kilted Mermaid on the day of the Pride Tea Dance; copies of employee work schedules for June 28 to June 30; copies of documents that identify the performers for the event; and documents identifying security personnel or other staff responsible for checking identification and allowing entry, among other information.
Moore said she was confused by the subpoena, particularly because it doesn’t contain any claim of wrongdoing.
“We have the event every year, it’s our gay pride event, and it is all ages,” Moore said in a phone interview. She said the bar has held the event for at least the past five years. “It’s a family-friendly event, and then once the drag show actually starts, we tell the parents who have small children that they can’t stay for the show.”
Sometimes parents want to stay anyway, Moore said, so she has maintained a policy that the first drag performance will be “really tame,” with no profanity. Later on, when all the children are gone, the performances can be “a little racy,” she said, but even during the adult-only performances, “there’s never nudity at any drag show.”
The event first garnered criticism after it was the subject of social media posts from Jennifer Pippin, who leads a local chapter of Moms for Liberty, a national conservative parents organization.
Pippin wrote in a Facebook post the day after the event that she submitted a complaint to the attorney general’s office “to formally report a violation of Florida’s ‘Protection of Children Act,’ specifically Senate Bill 1438,” which prohibits children from attending “adult live performances.”
However, judges blocked the law from taking effect, suggesting that it is likely unconstitutional due to how broad and vague it is. The case is awaiting a trial in the Middle District of Florida. Critics have said the law defines adult live performances in a way that would include businesses that host drag shows.
Pippin told NBC News she didn’t know the law was blocked when she reported the event to the attorney general’s office, but that the office told her other state laws restrict adult live performances.
She said she did not attend the event, but she pointed to social media photos and videos that show children were in attendance. Pippin said children appeared to be there the entire night, a claim Moore disputes.
Pippin said she asked Moore to resign during a city council meeting Tuesday.
“We have to protect the innocence of children at all costs from live adult entertainment shows,” Pippin told NBC News. “We are happy the AG is on board with our sentiment as well.”
Moore said the photos shared by Pippin, which, for example, show a performer in lingerie, mischaracterize what happened at the event. The photos that Pippin shared that show children at the event show that it was still light outside, Moore said, during the family-friendly portion of the event. The photos of the performer in lingerie, which don’t show any children, were taken later in the evening during the adults-only portion of the event.
Moore said that, despite the backlash, the community has been overwhelmingly supportive.
“We’re not a gay bar. We’re just a neighborhood bar, and we welcome everybody,” Moore said.
She added that some community members have been worried that the Kilted Mermaid will stop hosting its LGBTQ-inclusive events, but she said that won’t happen.
“We are committed to supporting everyone in the community like we always have, and gay pride will continue, and drag queen bingo will continue,” Moore said. “Nothing has changed for us.”
