No children were at the Kilted Mermaid drag show in Vero Beach, four attendees say

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No children attended the June 29 Pride Tea Dance that has the Kilted Mermaid under a state investigation, according to the Vero Beach bar owner, the event emcee, an audience member and one of the two drag performers that night.

All children were cleared from the Old Dixie Highway bar before the 8:30 p.m. drag show began, said Errol Buzzard of Port St. Lucie, the drag performer whose stage name is Serenity-Jade Paris. He said he arrived to get ready in the dressing room about 6 p.m., when the first part of the Pride celebration was still an all-ages event that started at 4 p.m.

“Everyone that was there was of age and just wanted to have a good time,” Buzzard told TCPalm. “There's nothing to hide. It was simply a Pride event and there were no children around during the evening performances.”

Children were allowed at the first two family-friendly shows at 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., but not at the third and final show at 8:30 p.m., said event emcee Lee Olsen. 

“We have seen more on the beachside than we did in that bar,” Olsen said, referring to claims of a "sexualized performance" in front of children. “When did we become controlled by the thought police? And it’s not like this was in the park. This was a private event at a private venue.”

Pride Tea Dance at Kilted Mermaid in Vero Beach, Florida

No children were visible in a photo posted on social media and submitted in a complaint to the Florida attorney general showing drag performer Joey Jessel of Orlando, whose stage name is MysTree Hugga, wearing lingerie during the 8:30 p.m. show. TCPalm has not been able to reach Jessel or DJ Atom for comment yet.

Audience member Barbara Ruddy, 82, of Vero Beach, told TCPalm she never has seen any children at any of the adult-only drag shows at the Kilted Mermaid. She said she arrived at this year's Pride celebration about 5 p.m. and stayed through the entire event, even when it started to rain on attendees in the outdoor section.

“I’ve never seen any nudity in the three years I’ve been to this Pride,” Ruddy said on July 23. “It’s a wonderful event for everyone.” 

Ruddy was the first person to speak at a July 22 Vero Beach City Council meeting, where 18 of the 25 people who spoke about the issue supported Vice Mayor Linda Moore, who owns the Kilted Mermaid.

"We are lucky to have Linda Moore and Kilted Mermaid in Vero Beach," Ruddy said at the meeting. "There is a place for everyone at Linda's table, and she is an asset to the community.”

Moms for Liberty chair files Florida attorney general complaint

Moms for Liberty Chair Jennifer Pippen of Vero Beach, who did not attend the Pride event, filed a complaint to the Florida attorney general, Indian River County Sheriff’s Office, Vero Beach Police Department and Vero Beach City Council after a friend sent her photos and videos posted on The Kilted Mermaid's website.

She announced her complaint in a June 29 Facebook post, citing Florida’s Protection of Children Act, which aims to prohibit children from attending “adult live performances.”

However, a federal judge blocked enforcement of the so-called Anti-Drag bill in June 2023, one month after the Legislature passed it, pending a legal challenge that claims it's unconstitutional under the First Amendment.

Yet Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced July 22 his office was investigating whether the event violated a state law that prohibits children from seeing "sexualized performances." Neither the announcement nor the July 8 subpoena he issued Moore cited which law was violated, nor presented any evidence.

The subpoena gives Moore until Aug. 8 to give the attorney general:

• Surveillance video recordings
• Employee work schedules
• Copies of contracts, agreements, invoices, or other documents identifying performers, DJs, entertainers, or independent contractors who performed
• Guest lists, reservation logs, ticket sales records, entry logs, or other documents identifying who attended the performance.

LGBTQ history in Vero Beach, Florida

Olsen is openly gay, and he’s lived in Vero Beach long enough to see the tides of public sentiment change toward the LGBTQ community. 

He remembers when the city came together to welcome the survivors of the Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooting in June 2016 after a gunman killed 49 people and wounded 53 more at the gay nightclub.

Olsen and Vero Beach city leaders hosted a vigil and fundraiser for the victims, including a parade of about 300 people that started at Pocahontas Park and carried down 14th Avenue. 

Tickets for the One Pulse Extravaganza sold out within a day and raised nearly $13,000.  

One of the attendees was Jessel, aka MysTree Hugga, who had performed at Pulse since 2012. 

“It really was a place I found sanctuary, and a place I knew was home and was always going to be there,” Jessel wrote on his Facebook after the massacre. 

Moore said she will not resign from the City Council nor stop hosting LGBTQ-friendly events at her bar.

“The show was family-friendly until the drag show started,” Moore said at the June 22 meeting. “If you are going to ask for me to resign, it’s not going to happen.” 

Jack Lemnus is a TCPalm enterprise reporter. Contact him at jack.lemnus@tcpalm.com, 772-409-1345, or follow him on X @JackLemnus.