Trump Says He's Installing Himself as Kennedy Center Chairman Because Of... Drag Shows?
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J. David Ake/AP Photo
President Donald Trump says he has appointed himself as the chairman of the board of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in what seems to be a reaction to programming last year at the national cultural center featuring drag.
Trump posted to Truth Social on February 7 sharing the decision, saying he would also 'immediately terminate multiple individuals from the Board of Trustees, including the Chairman, who do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture.'
'Just last year, the Kennedy Center featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth — THIS WILL STOP,' the president went on to say. 'The Kennedy Center is an American Jewel, and must reflect the brightest STARS on its stage from all across our Nation. For the Kennedy Center, THE BEST IS YET TO COME!'
Last year, the Kennedy Center hosted events such as Broadway Drag Brunch, Dancing Queens Drag Brunch, and A Drag Salute to Divas. The cultural center appears to have also hosted an event called Dragtastic Dress-Up, featuring a drag story hour, but these pages are no longer available on the Kennedy Center's website.
In a statement issued Friday, the Kennedy Center said that while it was 'aware' of Trump's Truth social post, it had not yet received any 'official communications from the White House regarding changes to our board of trustees,' though it did confirm that some board members had 'received termination notices from the administration.' It's unclear which board members have received such notices.
The statement also noted that while Trump's actions to replace the board are technically permissible, 'this would be the first time such action has been taken with the Kennedy Center's board.'
Board Chairman David Rubenstein, who was appointed as chairman of the Kennedy Center's Board of Trustees in 2010 and was set to retire at the end of the year, declined to comment to Washington, D.C. CBS affiliate WUSA9.
Over the past several years, the American right has been raising a moral panic over drag, particularly drag events that involve interactions with children, such as Drag Queen Story Hour.
"This is about who gets to exist in public spaces and whose stories get to be told on America's stage," Blaq Dinamyte, president of Qommittee, a national network of drag artists, said in a statement, The Advocate reports. "Banning an entire art form is censorship, plain and simple. Americans don't have to agree on everything, but we should be able to speak our minds and perform our art without bans, retaliation, or intimidation."
'We applaud the Kennedy Center staff and board who have recognized that over the years and thank them for providing a space in the Nation's Capital where all people can be themselves."
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