Politics

GOP speaker issues absurd punishment to Arizona Dems for hosting a Drag Story Hour

Ben Toma said the state House shouldn't be used for "radical activism" yet recently allowed a prayer group to speak in tongues on the House floor.
By
Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma (R)
Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma (R) Photo: Campaign Website

The Arizona House’s speaker, Ben Toma (R), has punished Democrats for hosting a Drag Story Hour by banning the entire party from using House meeting rooms.

The story hour took place on April 30 in the House basement and was hosted by nonbinary Rep. Lorena Austin (D) in partnership with Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona.

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On X, Toma claimed that Austin “deliberately misled House leadership to reserve a conference room to host a drag story hour with Planned Parenthood” and that “use of House facilities for radical activism to promote dangerously perverse ideology will not be tolerated while I am Speaker.”

“As a result,” he concluded, “I’ve ordered that Democrats have lost the privilege of accessing House meeting rooms until trust can be restored.”

The Arizona Senate Republicans posted video of the event, along with a warning that it may not be suitable for children, despite the fact that nothing in the video is inappropriate. The post claimed the event was meant to “encourage parents to transition their kids.”

“Your taxpayer dollars are hard at work to push child indoctrination and woke ideology onto our citizens. The madness must stop.”

The video, however, merely shows a person in drag reading about trans activism and telling adults to listen to their children when they tell them who they are.

Austin issued a statement refuting Toma’s claim that they in any way tried to host the event in secret.

“It is nothing short of ridiculous that I have been described as dishonest, deceitful and perverse and have been subjected to calls for punishment and expulsion,” they said. “What is true is that I hosted a drag performer who read stories about LGBTQ+ history and inclusion.”

Austin added that no minors were present and that no content was involved “that would offend a minor” anyway. They emphasized that the event included 20 adults and was “educational and completely within the mission of our LGBTQ+ Caucus.”

“We were completely transparent when we reserved the room, and the content was not, or should not be, controversial… I will never apologize for teaching people to be inclusive, to accept others as they are, and to stand up to hate and bigotry.”

House Democratic Whip Nancy Gutierrez also released a statement about the event, which she attended and called “wonderful.”

“I guess this isn’t the people’s House after all,” she said. “No one was misled about scheduling this event. It was described as a drag story hour when Representative Austin’s assistant called to reserve the room. I was there. We ate bagels and listened to a person wearing makeup and a sparkly outfit read a book and some poems about inclusion, acceptance, and LGBTQ history.”

She continued, “It wasn’t ‘perverse,’ it was lovely, funny, and inspiring.”

She then pointed out that anti-abortion activists have been “welcomed into the House to sing and jeer and mock our members, while our entire caucus has been banned from using House conference rooms because of how a person was dressed and what they had to say.”

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) also weighed in, calling Toma’s move a “disgusting abuse of power.”

“LGBTQ+ people exist,” the organization wrote on X. “Planned Parenthood exists. You cannot – AND WILL NOT – force us out of public life.

One progressive X user responded to Toma’s post by reminding him that ahead of the Arizona Supreme Court’s decision on an archaic abortion ban, he allowed a far-right lawmaker to lead a prayer group on the House floor that involved folks speaking in tongues.

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