On April 5, teachers from Colorado’s Eagle County School District filled the Vilar Performing Arts Center with third, fourth and fifth graders to see Muse, an acrobatic performance by the theatrical troupe Flip Fabrique.
The performance was just one among the Vilar’s 2022-2023 STARS series lineup, the product of a partnership between the facility and the school district intended to provide “an array of performing arts genres from dance and theater to world music” to Eagle County students. Eagle County parents trust and expect STARS performances to be positive, educational experiences for their children. The description of Muse, however, should have raised red flags.
“What does it mean to be a woman?” the flier asked. “There’s hardly one answer, and exploring the question calls for some acrobatics … Get ready to see powerful women, graceful men and every permutation in between.” Just vague enough to masquerade as a children’s show, this language didn’t do the performance justice. Muse, rated for children aged eight and above, focused on an adult male transitioning to a female and featured provocatively dressed men performing sexual dances for an audience full of children.
Young audience members were clearly disturbed. One student expressed his concern by interrupting the show: “This is wrong,” he cried. “Don’t you know we’re in third grade?”
Parental consent for this school sponsored field trip was assumed and covered under a blanket permission slip that authorized student attendance to all STARS performances throughout the year. Parents were rightly shocked and disgusted after their children were exposed to an explicit drag show veiled as an educational performance. During an Eagle County School District Board of Education meeting just days later, one parent labeled the performance “an attack on our children,” and a symptom of a larger issue in an increasingly left-leaning America.
Eagle County Superintendent Philip Qualman claimed he was unaware of the show’s content and was notified by the Vilar’s executive director that Muse “lightly addressed themes of gender.” In response, Qualman drafted a letter to parents that required opt-in consent for their children to attend future performances. Somehow, however, the letter was never delivered to principals or parents. Qualman concluded with an “unequivocal apology” for exposing students to “controversial content.”
Meanwhile, an Eagle County LGBT group, Mountain Pride, doubled down on the event, claiming that exposure to gender ideology is an “important” part of elementary education. Artistic performances like Muse “literally save lives,” according to the organization’s executive director. Mountain Pride did not elaborate on how men dancing sexually in front of young children was lifesaving.
Unfortunately, Eagle County’s explicit field trip was not an isolated incident in the State of Colorado. In February, the Jefferson County Education Association hosted a “family friendly” Drag Bingo Happy Hour that featured alcoholic beverages and drag performer Shirley Delta Blow, also known as third grade teacher Stuart Sanks. Due to significant backlash from the Jefferson County community, several adults stood outside of the event, using rainbow umbrellas to block the public’s view of what was going on behind closed doors.
Last June, four elementary schools in Colorado teamed up to support a “drag queen story time” again featuring Shirley Delta Blow.
Public schools across the country continue to expose children to sexual content through drag performances, graphic “children’s books” and gender ideology discussions inappropriate to the students’ grade level. Make no mistake – teachers’ unions are complicit, particularly in Colorado. In a statement last year, the Colorado Education Association (CEA) applauded the Colorado State Board of Education’s decision to “fully incorporate marginalized groups, including LGBTQ+ individuals, in its Social Studies standards.”
In response, CEA president Amie Baca-Oehlert said she could “breathe a sigh of relief knowing that our students will have access to an honest and inclusive education in our public schools in Colorado.” In another statement, Baca-Oehlert blamed Colorado teacher shortages on the fact that teachers “aren’t trusted to teach in age-appropriate way and teach appropriate content.”
With events like these, it is no wonder that parents are losing faith in the American public school system. Teachers’ unions, as well as educators, parents, and legislators, have a joint responsibility to create schools that are healthy and productive for children. Instead, unions like the CEA encourage a failing public school system that is willing to expose children to explicit content time and time again.
Maddie Dermon is a policy and research analyst at the Freedom Foundation.
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