Down syndrome drag show – transformation or exploitation?

By: American Decency Staff

 

“It was all about love and transformation”  – that was the title of the Grand Rapids Press article reporting on the Down syndrome drag show that took place this weekend as part of Project 1 by ArtPrize. 

And that’s the spin the media has used since the event was announced in August to convince the public that dressing up mentally disabled individuals in sexually provocative garb to dance for the pleasure of others is “art,” not exploitation.

The leftist media controls the narrative and so largely ignores any viewpoint that opposes the LGBTQ juggernaut. 

Which is one reason we ran our full-page ad in the Grand Rapids Press this past Sunday – to counter the overpowering media spin that would have viewers and readers believe that a Down syndrome drag show is about “love and transformation” – instead of what it really is:  normalizing LGBTQ ideology at any cost – even at the expense of the most vulnerable members of society. 

On Sunday, Drag Syndrome performed their second showing of the Down syndrome drag show.  The first showing, on Saturday, September 7, reportedly drew hundreds of attendees and about a dozen protestors. 

Also on Sunday, I attended the funeral in Grand Rapids of 99 year-old Diet Eman, a Dutch Nazi-resistance hero from World War II. 

On the back of the funeral program was this quote from the diary of Diet Eman: “Again a conversation with the doctor.  We always come back to the same point:  ‘The church may not mix in politics,’ he says.  And I tell him when you are a Christian and profess the God (who) is almighty, there is no single area of life from which you can exclude God.”  She wrote this on December 11, 1939.  She was 20 years old.

One of the protestors standing in opposition to the exploitation of those with Down syndrome on Saturday, was a 16 year-old girl named Emma, she and her family are friends of this ministry.  Emma’s mom, who was with her Saturday, told us:  “Emma spoke up yesterday. There were only a few of us protesters for quite awhile. When the GR Press asked if anyone would comment, no one would. So Emma asked me if she could. I told her only if she was willing for everyone who read it to know she took this stand. She spoke up, and was way more eloquent and passionate than this little quote would make it sound. Then she began engaging many others; we ended up staying an hour after the "show" started, she was so busy talking to people. An amazing night, really.”

You won’t read that in the Grand Rapids Press.

Emma is a rare individual – both among teens and adults – who lives by the truth that Diet Eman wrote about when she was just a few years older than Emma – “there is no single area of life from which you can exclude God.” 

That includes how we treat the disabled.  Yet our culture has become what it is because we have excluded God and the precepts of His Word from every area of life.  And so we not only have Drag Queens reading to preschoolers in public libraries, but we have children and those with Down syndrome performing sexualized drag shows for the pleasure of adults. 

Theologian Al Mohler made the point in his daily briefing Tuesday:  “Just to state the obvious, again, let's think about who we think we are as a culture. If you listen to the mainstream cultural conversation, you're looking at a culture that would claim we really want to protect children. We're absolutely determined to protect children. We want to protect children from sexual abuse, from any kind of sexual predation, from any kind of early sexualization. Except, we're all for children as drag performers.

“We're a society that says we feel a responsibility to treat all human beings with respect and that means that no one should be sexualized or treated in any way as the object of a performance when you are looking at, especially some kind of content that would generally be assumed to be sexualized or even controversial and especially when you think about Down syndrome, and you're thinking about all the questions that would arise about consent and sexual abuse.  But then we're told we're so committed to the LGBTQ revolution that there's going to be exception in this category, whether we're talking about children or individuals identified with Down syndrome. …”

As we stated in our full-page ad that appeared in the Grand Rapids Press this past Sunday:  “When we don’t clearly teach the difference between right and wrong, when we make exceptions and normalize what God has called wrong, we lessen, in our minds and in our community, God’s greatness and the necessity of walking in obedience to Him.”

We don’t know the impact our ad will have, but we pray that it will be used behind the scenes not only to impact the leadership at ArtPrize, but also to embolden others to be a Diet or Emma.

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. 
Not to speak is to speak.
Not to act is to act.”
~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer

For those who appreciate our work and appreciate our vision and efforts to place this ad in the Grand Rapids Press, your help is needed as we come to the end of summer when giving is definitely down.   If you are a friend of this ministry, your gift would affirm that in this time of need. 

To support our efforts, please click here or mail your gift to American Decency Association (ADA), PO Box 202, Fremont, MI 49412

God bless you,

Bill Johnson

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To support our efforts please click here or mail your gift to American Decency Association (ADA), PO Box 202, Fremont, MI 49412.  

American Decency Association is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

 

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