South Dakota State University Hosted A ‘Kid-Friendly’ Drag Show And Gov. Kristi Noem Is Doing Nothing About It

South Dakota State University hosted a “kid-friendly” drag show, on state property and in a taxpayer-funded building, that may be illegal under the state’s “harmful to minors” legislation, yet the state’s Republican Gov. Kristi Noem has not taken any steps to rectify the situation.

Noem has failed to hold accountable the school’s governing body, the South Dakota Board of Regents, whose members Noem has the power to fire. Noem also has not called on the state’s attorney general to enforce South Dakota’s “harmful to minors” laws. Furthermore, it is a governor’s job to make policy suggestions for state lawmakers, yet she has failed to push for bills that would ensure children are protected from similar events in the future. 

At the Nov. 16 event, which was orchestrated by the Gender & Sexualities Alliance student group, student organizers encouraged attendees, which presumably included children, to “Show [their] support for the drag queens by bringing $1 or $5 bills to tip.” After backlash from locals, the student organizers, university president, and local ABC-affiliate newspaper jumped to defend the lewd performance. 

In a piece subtly defending the event, Dakota News Now reporter John Gaskins wrote that the event featured “age-appropriate attire, music, and behavior.” His source? One of the drag queens. 

A South Dakota State University student, who attended the “kid-friendly” drag performance and wishes to remain anonymous, told The Federalist the show was anything but child appropriate. “[The drag queens] were twerking and then also shaking their chests at people,” the student said. 

Devin Basart, one of the drag queen performers who goes by the stage name “Devondra Shakers,” claimed in the local paper that he and the other performers are “educating children to love who you are.” However, The Federalist’s student source said “there wasn’t anything educational at all about the drag show.”

University President Barry Dunn deflected criticisms over the event by pointing out that the performance was sponsored by the Gender & Sexualities Alliance student group, not the university, and that students have a right to host any kind of event they chose. 

While it’s true student groups can host a drag show, that doesn’t necessarily mean they have a right to host a drag show for minors. According to Steve Haugaard, a current South Dakota legislator and former speaker of the state House of Representatives, there’s a case to be made that the “kid-friendly” drag show is illegal. 

Under South Dakota law, a “show or other presentation which depicts nudity [or] sexual conduct” are deemed “harmful to minors,” and it is illegal to “sell[] or give[] to a minor an admission ticket” for such a performance. Drag shows are arguably, by their nature, prurient, meaning excessively sexual and deviant, and the South Dakota legislature considers prurient material and displays “harmful to minors.” 

The Federalist reached out to Dunn to ask whether he believes the university should be hosting sexually inappropriate performances for minors on university property but did not hear back. 

There’s already some precedent for labeling drag shows prurient and therefore

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