Zions Bank revealed in a statement on Wednesday they are pulling their sponsorship of an upcoming LGBTQ festival in Idaho because one of the events involve having children participate in a drag show.
The move comes as children participating in or viewing sexually explicit drag shows has become another cultural battleground across country.
"You have watched the Queens and Kings and it is time the Kids. A drag show like none other the Drag Kids range from ages 11-18 and are ready to bring it all to the Boise Pride Festival stage! Come and cheer them on as they bring drag to the younger generation!" a description of the event reads.
And yes, drag shows involving children are explicitly designed to re-engineer child sexuality. As the academic queer theorists have explained, these performances are "site[s] of queer pleasure" used to liberate children from "the rhetoric of childhood innocence."
— Christopher F. Rufo ?? (@realchrisrufo) September 6, 2022
Amazing that Zions Bank, founded by Brigham Young, is now supporting child drag queen performances.
— Christopher F. Rufo ?? (@realchrisrufo) September 6, 2022
Zions Bank said they were unaware about children being involved in some of the programing.
"Since learning of the these specific activities, we have made the decision to withdraw our participation in this year's Boise Pride event and have communicated this to the event organizers."
— Zions Bank (@ZionsBank) September 7, 2022
Other sponsors of the Boise Pride event include Citi Bank, Jack Daniels, Wells Fargo, Hewlett-Packard, Target, T-Mobile, and Mikes Hard Lemonade.