Elk Grove Unified School District trustees criticized for drag show performance at Pleasant Grove High School

Drag shows called ‘perversions’ and compared to ANTIFA, Proud Boys

During a trustees meeting of the Elk Grove Unified School District, at least three speakers expressed dismay over a drag show performance at a district high school’s multicultural performance. The remarks were made during the public comment section of the Tuesday, March 7 meeting.

The entire comments of the three speakers, which can be heard in the video posted below, all condemned the event. Although the four speakers did not give exact details of the performance, it has been verified it was held on Friday, March 3, at EGUSD’s Pleasant Grove High School as part of the multicultural performance organized by student clubs on campus and the Gay Straight Alliance Club sponsored the performance in question.

The first speaker, who identified herself as Christine Navarrete, claimed attendance at the performance was mandatory and said she saw no educational value.

“I just don’t see how that has anything to do with education, it’s straight-up perversion,” she said. “And it doesn’t belong in school. Period.”

The second speaker, whose name was not audible, said she was a “concerned member of the community” and said she opposed the performance and claimed there was no advance parental notification.

“I believe very strongly that students should have had the right to opt out of this activity,” she said. “I really hope that the board [of trustees] will take some sort of action to ensure this will never happen again and that the values of parents, families, and students are upheld.”

The third person to speak on the topic was Rachel Kattan, who asked the trustees how are “drag queens part of the multicultural event.” Kattan acknowledged there was no nudity but said the performance was suggestive.

“I truly believe parents should have been notified,” Kattan said. “Did it occur to you that there may be some students that were uncomfortable, forced to sit through a sexualized drag queen performance as part of a multicultural assembly?”

She added, “drag queens are a social group; you can think of social groups like ANTIFA, or Proud Boys, or other types of groups.”

The three speakers participated remotely via Zoom, and during the public comment section, over a dozen names were called but did not comment. Trustee Camine Forcina asked if those callers’ topics of interest could be provided to trustees.

Drag show performances have become a lightning rod of controversy in recent months and are now part of the national culture wars. Many states have enacted bans or are proposing restrictions on performance in schools and in many other public settings.

The Elk Grove Unified School District’s public information office has yet to respond to a request to comment or for the information that Forcina requested.  By law, the trustees cannot specifically address comments on non-agenda items.

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