A Florida church is being criticized for planning a ‘youth pride concert’ which includes a drag show, ‘banned queer literature’ and asks children in attendance to list their pronouns.

The free, one-day event for kids ages 12-18 is set to take place May 21 at Naples United Church of Christ.

The church’s pastor, who calls himself a ‘progressive’, Reverend Dawson B. Taylor resigned last week, according to The Voice of Florida. It is unclear whether his resignation was as a result of the backlash of the event. The Reverend has previously been accused of planning to hold a secret “gay promo” for students in the Collier County Public Schools District.

The event was posted online by Governor Ron DeSantis’ press secretary, Christina Pushaw.

She shared an article from Florida’s Voice that outlined plans by event organizers to use local school parking lots to round up attendees and provide free transportation to the conference.

“Thank you @FLVoiceNews for revealing this and updating @collierschools on the situation!” Pushaw tweeted on May 12.

The Youth Pride conference for LGBTQ youth ages 12-18 will take place at a church in Naples, Florida on May 21 and will include a drag show for kids as well as a panel discussion centered on activism and “banned queer literature”

A Florida church is being criticized for planning a ‘youth pride concert’ which includes a drag show, ‘banned queer literature’ and asks children in attendance to list their pronouns. The church’s pastor, who calls himself a ‘progressive’ Reverend Dawson B. Taylor resigned last week

The Collier County Public Schools District said in a statement to Florida’s Voice that it was not notified of the event.

“The district was never informed or contacted about this very matter. It is not a sponsor of the event, which takes place in a private establishment. CCPS also did not authorize or approve transportation of CCPS students to and from district school sites by event organizers. Any inference to the contrary is entirely rejected by CCPS,” he said in a statement.

The school district said it spoke to event organizers and explained it needed to clarify that local schools are not a co-sponsor of the event.

He added that organizers had also been informed that local schools would not be used as transit points for the pick-up and drop-off of children attending the event.

Florida found itself at the center of the debate after DeSantis passed the Parental Rights in Education Bill – a law that bans the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools. public until the third year.

Christina Pushaw, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ press secretary, thanked Florida Voice News CEO Brendon Leslie on Twitter for outlining event organizers’ plans to use local school parking lots to provide free transport to the conference.

DeSantis in recent weeks also moved to strip Disney of its 55-year-old special tax status under the Reed Creek District Improvement Act.

It came after workers at the entertainment giant slammed the company for not publicly opposing the so-called ‘Don’t Say Gay Bill’. Disney then publicly opposed DeSantis’ passage of the law.

At the time, DeSantis said it does not “support special privileges in law simply because a company is powerful”.

However, Democrats allege Republicans have targeted the company — over its blatant and public criticism of the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which DeSantis signed into law in March.

The bill will become law on July 1, and teachers who violate its regulations can be sued by parents.

DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education Bill on March 28. The bill prohibits any discussion of “sexual orientation” or “gender identity” in Florida schools for students in kindergarten through third grade.

Disney said it would suspend political donations in the state and added that it would in turn support organizations that oppose the new law.

“Florida’s HB 1557, also known as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, should never have passed and should never have been signed into law,” the company said in a statement last month. condemning DeSantis’ signing of the bill.

“Our goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down by the courts, and we remain committed to supporting national and state organizations working to achieve this.

“We are committed to defending the rights and safety of LGBTQ+ members of the Disney family, as well as the LGBTQ+ community in Florida and across the country,” the statement continued.

Florida lawmakers voted last month to strip Disney of its special autonomous zone status.

Florida also finds itself between an ongoing war between DeSantis and Disney – which began when his bosses opposed the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill and enraged the governor for weighing in on politics.

DeSantis and his fellow Republicans then lambasted Disney and defended the law as reasonable.

“In Florida, we not only know that parents have a right to be involved, we insist that parents have a right to be involved,” DeSantis said at a March 28 press conference before to sign the bill. “We will ensure that parents can send their children to school to receive education, not indoctrination.”

Representative Fine also criticized Disney for wading into the political debate surrounding the bill and said the company was a guest in the state and did not deserve special privileges.