Kids watch drag-queen movie at Tulsa Union school

Education

Ray Carter | October 17, 2024

Kids watch drag-queen movie at Tulsa Union school

Ray Carter

Students in a theater class at Union High School in Tulsa spent their final days before fall break watching a movie in which a drag queen was a main character, according to a report by Tulsa ABC-affiliate news station KTUL.

Catherine Davis, whose 15-year-old was among the students, said the movie “Kinky Boots” was inappropriate.

“I did not sign a consent form for this video,” Davis told KTUL. “We were not informed this video was being shown and we were not given options to opt-out.”

Davis signed a consent form at the start of the school year acknowledging that her child could be exposed to materials of a “more advanced nature,” but Davis added a note stating “as long as rape, incest, LGBTQIA material isn’t taught.”

The plot of “Kinky Boots” centers on efforts to save a shoe-making business by catering to drag-queen performers who wish to purchase fetish boots.

Davis noted to KTUL that the men in the movie were “not just wearing dresses, but lingerie and heels.”

One review of the movie declared that it “takes a familiar narrative and turns it into something extraordinarily queer.”

Another review of “Kinky Boots” stated that the employees of the shoe factory are forced to “adjust” in the course of the story.

“After decades of quiet pride, they must make footwear’s equivalent of porn,” the review stated.

Another review noted that the main drag-queen character in the movie is “dressed to kill when belting songs like ‘I Want to Be Evil’ in a meaty, gal-guy voice,” and declared the actor “amps and vamps the contrivances appealingly.”

Another review described the main drag-queen character as “spreading gender diversity like sequined butter through the factory’s blue-collar workforce.”

KTUL reported that Union school officials declined to comment.

Ray Carter Director, Center for Independent Journalism

Ray Carter

Director, Center for Independent Journalism

Ray Carter is the director of OCPA’s Center for Independent Journalism. He has two decades of experience in journalism and communications. He previously served as senior Capitol reporter for The Journal Record, media director for the Oklahoma House of Representatives, and chief editorial writer at The Oklahoman. As a reporter for The Journal Record, Carter received 12 Carl Rogan Awards in four years—including awards for investigative reporting, general news reporting, feature writing, spot news reporting, business reporting, and sports reporting. While at The Oklahoman, he was the recipient of several awards, including first place in the editorial writing category of the Associated Press/Oklahoma News Executives Carl Rogan Memorial News Excellence Competition for an editorial on the history of racism in the Oklahoma legislature.

Loading Next