Planned Rocklin fashion show with drag queen host draws divide at city council meeting
ROCKLIN -- The Rocklin City Council Meeting on Tuesday was packed with community members on two sides of an upcoming fashion show, hosted by a Drag Queen and set to be held at the Rocklin Event Center.
The boutique, Wildflower Daydreams, organized a fashion show to celebrate the store's three-year anniversary. As part of the celebration, the store's owner, Michelle Honath, said she hired A La Mode, a Sacramento Drag Queen, to host and perform.
The event, to be held at the Rocklin Event Center in March, has caught the attention of community members who are against the fashion show being open to all ages.
"Our hope is to make sure that the city council knows that we're not OK with it, we don't like this," said Matthew Oliver, a senior leader at the Family Church in Rocklin
Oliver and others spoke during the public comment section of Tuesday's Rocklin City Council meeting. There were more than a dozen speakers on both sides of the issue, some who supported the event and others who did not.
Here's what some said:
"As a concerned citizen, I will stand and fight."
"It's not the role of government to censor art."
"If you do not want to support this organization, and this event, then you do not have to attend."
"Please put an immediate stop to this perverse show."
Honath told CBS13 that she was surprised that the claims "were taken to this extent." She said the event is a celebration of inclusivity and she came to the meeting to support that.
Community members who spoke against the event claimed that the drag queen would be stripping or that the show would be focused on sexualization. CBS13 took those concerns to Honath.
"We've discussed that this is a family-friendly, all-ages drag performance. It's going to be more of a drag dance style. There will not be any stripping, anything inappropriate for children, just really having a fun host and having an entertainment aspect," Honath said.
Tuesday, council members did not make any changes to the event or to city rules about the public space Honath rented to host the event. The public comments were just that — comments to be heard by the council.
