Fury as Wyoming officials spend $3,000 of taxpayer money on drag queen bingo ... trends now
Wyoming officials have sparked fury after approving a $3,000 grant from taxpayer money for a drag queen event hosted by Wyoming AIDS Assistance.
The Drag Queen Bingo, held Saturday night in Laramie, is an R-rated fundraiser event serving alcohol and featuring 'sexually explicit' content.
According to the nonprofit Wyoming AIDS Assistance, money raised from the event is to support people living with HIV and AIDS.
Two days after the sold-out drag show was held, the Joint Health, Labor and Social Services Committee approved a motion to draft a bill that would prevent the state from funding the event.
'My constituents and the public are very upset that what appears to have happened is that taxpayer dollars went to pay for a drag show,' Rep. Jeanette Ward said on Monday.
'Taxpayer funds going to sexually explicit material of any kind is inappropriate,' she added, as reported by Cowboy State Daily.
Wyoming officials sparked fury after approving a $3,000 grant from taxpayer money for the Drag Queen Bingo event hosted by Wyoming AIDS Assistance. Pictured: the event pictured last year
The Drag Queen Bingo, held Saturday night in Laramie, is an R-rated fundraiser event serving alcohol and featuring 'sexually explicit' content
It's unclear how much money it has raised in 2024, but according to the drag queen event's social media, tickets were sold out in only 24 minutes
The Wyoming Department of Health approved a nearly $3,000 grant to organizers of the annual drag queen event earlier this month.
A warning on its website reads: 'This is not your grandmother's church parlor bingo. It's rated 'R' for really inappropriate for kids, and really going to raise some money for the Client Assistance Fund and HIV/AIDS awareness in Wyoming!'
Stefan Johansson, director of the Department of Health, insisted that the funds were not for the drag show aspect of the event Monday.
'It was for the specific activities that the mission of Wyoming AIDS Assistance and our communicable disease unit share to help folks with HIV, AIDS and STDs,' he said.
The two $1499 grants were spent on rental of a ballroom, advertising of the event, and rapid HIV testing offered at the event, according to the organization.
