By The FirstBiden Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was grilled by Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz today over ‘drag queen story hour’ events that are reportedly being held on U.S. Military Bases. The exchange occurred on Wednesday during a House Armed Services Committee hearing on the fiscal year 2024 budget request of the Department of Defense.
Watch the exchange below:
“I guess my question is how much taxpayer money should go to fund drag queen story hours on military bases?” Gaetz asked Secretary Austin.
“Drag queen story hours is not something that the department funds,” Austin responded.
“Well wait a second,” Gaetz responded. “That’s actually not what the record seems to suggest. You were going to fund one at Ramstein Air Force Base, but that one got cancelled, but that’s DOD insignia — thats a drag queen story hour for children. Then also at Maelstrom Air Force Base outside Montana you had a drag queen story hour for kids, at the Joint Base Langley Eustis you put on a drag queen story hour on a Saturday, for the’first ever kid friendly, diversity, equity, inclusion summer festival,’ and at Nellis Air Force Base you had the ‘Drag U-Nellis‘ on June 17th. Who funded these things?”
“Listen, drag shows are not something that the Department of Defense supports or funds,” Austin answered.
“But why are they happening on military bases, I just showed you the evidence,” Gaetz fired back. ”Why are they happening?”
“I will say again, this is not something we support or fund,” responded Austin after an awkward pause.
The U.S. military has been holding drag shows on military bases for a number of years. In 2021, for example, the Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada hosted its first drag show in order to “boost morale and promote inclusivity and diversity.”
