Source: United States Senator for Florida Marco Rubio
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) sent a letter to U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall regarding the Air Force Library at Ramstein Air Force Base, Germany hosting a “Drag Queen Story Time” event for young children of servicemembers. Rubio urged him to cancel the event, discipline the staff involved in planning and hosting the event, and respond to questions on whether other installations both at home and around the world have done similar events. Following receipt of Rubio’s letter, the Air Force canceled the event.
“The last thing parents serving their nation overseas should be worried about, particularly in a theater with heightened geopolitical tensions, is whether their children are being exposed to sexually charged content simply because they visited their local library,” Rubio wrote.
The full text of the letter is below.
Dear Secretary Kendall:
Recently, the Air Force Library at Ramstein Air Force Base (AFB) in Germany announced that it would be hosting a “Drag Queen Story Time” event planned for June 2, 2022 to celebrate Pride Month on base. I urge you to immediately cancel this politically divisive event, and take appropriate disciplinary action against all involved in allowing this gross abuse of taxpayer funding to place children in a sexualized environment.
U.S. military installations exist to serve the needs of the warfighter for training, logistics, storage, testing, and deployment. Simultaneously, the installation must also support the needs of servicemembers and their families, including creating a safe, healthy environment for parents raising children. This is why installations often include commissaries, pharmacies, schools, and libraries. On installations outside the continental United States (OCONUS), these amenities play an even more central role in the life of our servicemembers and their families. Frequently, servicemembers do not have options available outside OCONUS installations due to language and logistical barriers.
In light of this, it is completely insane for Ramstein AFB to use on-installation resources for rituals like “Drag Queen Story Time.” These inappropriate events are extremely divisive at home for good reason; in all cases, they place young children in close proximity with adults who are intentionally and explicitly sexualized. A flyer for the similar event last year highlighted the apparent inclusion of a controversial book, The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish. The author of the book said they wrote it so that children could “experience the magic of drag and to get a little practice shaking their hips or shimmying their shoulders to know how [they] can feel fabulous inside of [their] own bodies.”[1] As I hope you can agree, decisions over children and their bodies should be left to moms and dads serving our nation, not mediated through publicly funded propaganda on U.S. Air Force bases.
The last thing parents serving their nation overseas should be worried about, particularly in a theater with heightened geopolitical tensions, is whether their children are being exposed to sexually charged content simply because they visited their local library. I urge you to cancel this event, and request the following information:
- This is not the first time this library has done an event of this type, evidently having hosted a similar one for children last June. How many instances of events involving drag queens spending time around children have occurred at government sponsored events on U.S. military installations both OCONUS and in the United States?
- How much U.S. taxpayer funding has gone to cover salaries, utilities, materials, transportation, and other costs associated with these events?
- Do you and President Biden believe the proper role of the U.S. Department of Defense is to facilitate extraordinarily divisive events involving the children of U.S. servicemembers?
Thank you for your consideration to this important matter.
Sincerely,