Pentagon Forbids Drag Events on Bases After Republican Criticism
The Defense Department said on Thursday that it would not host drag shows at U.S. military installations after Republican politicians complained about events scheduled on bases to celebrate Pride Month.
Sabrina Singh, deputy press secretary for the department, said in a statement that “drag events” were not a “suitable use” of the department’s resources.
The statement did not say how the Pentagon defines a drag event. Drag shows, which have entered the mainstream in recent years, are often a kind of variety performance in which gender assumptions are challenged through dress and makeup, dance and song.
Under the department’s ethics regulations, Ms. Singh said “certain criteria must be met for persons or organizations acting in nonfederal capacity” to use the department’s facilities and equipment. “As Secretary Austin has said, the D.O.D.
