As Pride Month begins, Defense leaders cancel drag show at Air Force base
Defense Department leaders moved to canceled a drag show scheduled at an Air Force base in Nevada on Thursday, according to multiple reports.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told the Air Force it’s not within Pentagon policy to fund drag shows on bases, saying the show should either be canceled or moved off base, NBC News first reported.
The show at the Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada was scheduled for the first day of Pride Month, June 1, in recognition of the LGBTQ community. It would have been the third annual drag show held at the base, according to CNN.
“As Secretary Austin has said, the DOD will not host drag events at US military installations or facilities,” spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told CNN. “Hosting these types of events in federally funded facilities is not a suitable use of DOD resources. Our Service members are diverse and are allowed to have personal outlets.”
2024: Donald Trump draws a huge field of GOP opponents: Here's why that could help and hurt him
Politics: Alabama expands ban on transgender athletes to include college; Gov. Kay Ivey signs bill
Austin told the House Armed Services Committee at a hearing in March that “drag shows are not something the Defense Department supports or funds.” He doubled down on the policy after being pressed by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., during the hearing.
In May, Gaetz sent a letter to Austin and Milley, questioning them on six other cases of past or upcoming drag shows or events on military installations or approved by the military, including the now-canceled show at Nellis.