Glenn Jacobs—Republican Mayor of Knox County, Tennessee formerly known as the WWE wrestler Kane—waded into the latest conservative uproar about drag queens performing for kids, saying he would "do everything" within his power to ensure drag shows for all ages "don't happen on Knox County property."
Writing on Twitter, Jacobs added while there is currently "no law on the books" giving him "authority to address what happens in private businesses," he nonetheless affirmed he will "support any effort of our state legislature to prevent the sexualization of children."
You can see his tweets below.
Jacobs was immediately accused of hypocrisy.
People pointed out during his wrestling years "Kane" performed at events featuring many of the things used in drag being used by stars in the WWE.
And they brought the receipts.
Others pointed out the WWE regularly exposes children to violent imagery, such as the WWE's frequent use of steel chairs as weapons.
Jacobs was harshly criticized as a result.
Jacobs is the latest GOP politician turning drag shows into conservative manufactured outrage.
Earlier this year, Bryan Slaton, a Texas state Republican Representative, complained about a Dallas gay bar that hosted a family-friendly drag brunch for young children and vowed to introduce legislation to stop what he called the “disturbing trend in which perverted adults are obsessed with sexualizing young children."
Since then, drag queen story hours have received considerable pusback nationwide from conservatives who have alleged that they are an opportunity to "indoctrinate" children into the LGBTQ+ community rather than an opportunity to impart values of inclusivity and acceptance.
"Violent threats" recently prompted one North Carolina town to cancel a scheduled drag queen story hour during Pride Month festivities.
In June, Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio took to Twitter to gloat after shaming an Air Force base into canceling its drag queen story hour.
Rubio said it was "good" the Air Force had canceled the event, which would have featured a drag queen reading stories to young children, after he wrote a letter to them expressing his outrage.
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