Pentagon Orders Nevada Air Force Base to Cancel Pride Month Drag Show
June 1 2023, Published 4:30 p.m. ET
The Pentagon ordered an Air Force base in Nevada to cancel a previously approved drag show that was meant to kick off this year’s Pride Month, RadarOnline.com has learned.
The drag show, which was to take place at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, was initially scheduled for June 1 to commemorate the first day of Pride Month. The event was also meant to recognize “the importance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender service members and civilian personnel.”
But according to CNN, the Pentagon stepped in on Wednesday and ordered the base to cancel the drag show despite the fact the event was already approved and similar events were held at the base in June 2021 and June 2022.
The sudden cancelation reportedly came after U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that Department of Defense funds cannot be used to “appropriate” Pride Month events like drag shows.
“LGBTQ+ citizens have fought to defend our rights and freedoms from the founding of our nation to the Civil War and beyond,” Secretary Austin said in 2021, although he “drew the line” at allowing “drag events or shows to be hosted at military bases” this year.
Meanwhile, at least one Air Force official confirmed that the previously scheduled and approved drag show would not be taking place on Thursday at Nellis Air Force Base.
“Consistent with Secretary Austin’s congressional testimony, the Air Force will not host drag events at its installations or facilities,” the official said. “Commanders have been directed to either cancel or relocate these events to an off-base location.”
A spokesperson for the Pentagon has since spoken out regarding the axed Pride Month event and reiterated Secretary Austin’s belief that drag shows are “not an appropriate use of U.S. military bases.”
“As Secretary Austin has said, the DOD will not host drag events at US military installations or facilities,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said on Wednesday. “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,” Singh added.
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Joint Chief of Staff Chair General Mark Milley also spoke out against drag shows at U.S. Air Force bases in March and called for an investigation to “find out what actually is going on there.”
“I’d like to take a look at those, because I don’t agree with those,” General Milley said at the time. “I think those things shouldn’t be happening.”
