By Staff Reporter |
On Saturday, Democratic Mesa lawmaker Lorena Austin hosted a drag show fundraiser open to all ages.
The legislature’s first “nonbinary,” “gender nonconforming” elected official planned the event from 9 to 11 pm at Meno’s Place in Mesa. The event required a $10 cash cover charge to enter. Along with offering $5 raffle tickets, Austin teased the appearance of an unnamed, special guest, in addition to the MC, a drag queen named Gypsy Rose.
Austin first posted about the fundraiser event back on June 1 to commemorate the beginning of Pride Month.
Back in March, Austin drew ire for hosting a controversial drag queen story hour event hosted at the state capitol. House leadership claimed Austin misled them to reserve the conference room where the story hour took place. House Speaker Ben Toma revoked Democrat access to House meeting rooms as a result of Austin’s event.
“Use of House facilities for radical activism to promote dangerously perverse ideology will not be tolerated while I am Speaker,” posted Toma.
Austin responded that it was “ridiculous” that she was accused of being dishonest or deceitful, let alone perverse for promoting LGBTQ+ ideologies in children.
The drag story hour took place ahead of an “LGBTQ+ Youth Day” at the Capitol, arranged in part by One-N-Ten. That organization recently made headlines for hosting a name change clinic advertised by the DeMiguel Elementary School in the Flagstaff Unified School District.
One-N-Ten provides LGBTQ+ programs to minors as young as 11 years old, focusing on topics such as sexual health and gender identity.
The gender nonconforming lawmaker won her first election thanks to a majority of funding from out-of-state Democratic money. Austin campaigned in part on rolling back laws prohibiting males from joining female sports teams and gender transition surgeries for minors.
This time around, Austin is campaigning on some of the same things — increasing teacher pay, establishing more affordable housing, expanding Medicaid access, and greater legalization of abortion — though missing from her priorities are those related to LGBTQ+ policies.
Austin is defending a seat in a historically Republican district, though she and another Democrat, Seth Blattman, won in 2022.
According to testimony from Austin in a promotional video for her alma mater, Arizona State University, she discovered her gender identity after joining an LGBTQ+ activist community in St. Louis, Missouri following the 2014 death of Michael Brown. This epiphany occurred after she dropped out five times from Mesa Community College; Austin credited her involvement in the ensuing protests to her desire to return to continue her degree at MCC and then finish at ASU.
ASU awarded Austin a scholarship through a leadership program launched by President Michael Crow. She graduated ASU in 2020 as the dean’s medalist for the School of Transborder Studies.
Austin was one of the primary opponents of a bill prohibiting schools from using preferred pronouns or names rather than those that align with a child’s biological sex or birth certificate, respectively.
Governor Katie Hobbs cited Austin’s testimony in opposition to the bill as evidence that the legislation would be harmful, and that transgenderism among children was something to be supported, not opposed.
Hobbs’ husband, Patrick Goodman, helped children embark on gender transitions in his capacity as a Phoenix Children’s Hospital Gender Support Program counselor.
The hospital was known for its provision of comprehensive gender-affirming care to gender dysphoric children. As part of his job, Goodman consulted with minor patients about the application of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.
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