DeSantis administration revokes Hyatt Regency alcohol license for hosting 'A Drag Queen Christmas'

DeSantis Admin Revokes Hyatt Miami Alcohol License After Drag Show (businessinsider.com)

Good.

...The department said performers were "wearing sexually suggesting clothing and prosthetic female genitalia," as well as simulating masturbation...

The usual suspects are not amused:

"How far will he take this anti-LGBTQ crusade in his desperate attempt to outrace his inevitable presidential primary opponents? Will he raid movie theaters because parents take their teenagers to see R-rated movies? Will he punish electronics stores because parents buy their children certain video games? How many businesses will DeSantis target, how many families will he force to co-parent with the government in his quest to manufacture right wing hysteria that he can monetize and weaponize?" asked Brandon Wolf, a spokesman for the group...

I love the anguish of LBGTFU mafia tears in the morning. It's lovely with my coffee. This clip is from that show; excerpted from a heartwarming piece entitled “Screwdolph the Red-Nippled Reindeer." If you're taking your kids to see this drek, I guarantee you'll never be permitted around me & mine.

 

Well, as long as Children are not exposed to sexual performances while not attacking the LGBTQ community as far as their freedoms are concerned, then I support him. May I add, the LGBTQ should not have the freedom to perform sexual suggestive or flat out disgusting material in front of children, maybe teenagers, but not children.

 

I did a lousy job of excerpting the article. The issue is that kids were invited, despite explicit warnings from the state that Hyatt would risk their liquor license if they didn't make it an adult-only event.

 

Its good for authoritarian minded people, but using the government authority as a weapon is the BS which is causing DeSantis numbers to shrink. He has plummeted 41 points in some States, and even in Florida he plummeted 12 points and is no longer the leading politician in the race. The government does not need to take over parenting. Parents are responsible for raising their kids, and punishing businesses for the parents decisions is what it is (authoritarian BS). In this case, and other similar cases, underage people were allowed in only if accompanied by an adult / parent, so IT IS a parental decision. What is the parents watch the show on TV? Is the government going to put TV providers out of business?

 

I am more interested in why DeSantis pulled their license? Is it because they served alcohol at a venue with minors present or is it because they served alcohol to minors? Because I am pretty sure if it was the first reason then he should be pulling licenses for the Florida based baseball, football and hockey teams because alcohol is served in those facilities while minors are present. If he revoked their license because they served alcohol to minors then I am in full support. If it is for any other reason then DeSantis should not be poking his nose into this. Even children are allowed into see restricted movies with an adult. I really don't see how this is much different.

 

It had nothing to do with alcohol, that was just the way for the government to punish the hotel. The government requires everyone to get a license and now they use it to force them to dance to their music or else they yank the license and put you out of business

 

So you feel you or the state should be able to determine what other parents deem appropriate for their children.

I have to admit, y’all abandoned the “parental rights” cheer much quicker than the other things y’all said you stood for.

Are movie theaters his next target?

Meanwhile these are the types of people protesting drag queen events:


Good to see Republicans finally aligning with their base so openly after doing it quietly for so long. Bravo.

It’s interesting to see them protesting performances after being absolutely quiet about the thousands of actual rapes at their “places of worship”.

 

I would not agree with DeSantis pulling a license just as a means of punishment. I can fully understand if the violated some rules around the serving of alcohol.

 

That would not be something a Governor of a State would be involved in, because its pretty much a routine thing when they serve alcohol to minors.

 

Even “normal “ people should not perform sexual acts / performances with children as part of the audience.

 

Would you elaborate upon your last sentence.

 

Oh like NAZI or Soviet version of autocratic Kapitalism. DeSantis in his attempt to out Trump the Trump is sinking deeper into the cesspool and quicksand of Fascism. .

 

That is what I thought. There must be processes for revoking a license for serving minors. Why is the governor involved?

 

They broke the law and should lose their liquor license as a result.

 

It's because they broke the law while selling alcohol. You can't bring your kids into a strip club, either. If a strip club openly invites minors they would likely lose their liquor license too.

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0800-0899/0800/0800.html

 

Does that mean the Hyatt has been convicted of breaking a lewdness law? What was the penalty? Did they pay a fine? Can they not close down the establishment for criminal behavior. Was this part of the lewdness law conviction?

 

Florida has a Department of Business and Professional Regulation that people can file complains with. And, they have agents who can go to venues and see for themselves if establishments are following the rules to maintain their licenses (alcohol, hairdressing, etc). My guess is someone saw the advertisement and reported it. They told them if they do X they will be in violation and would have their liquor license revoked. They did X anyway knowing what was going to happen. They revoked their liquor license. This isn't the first establishment that put on these erotic shows with kids in Florida that they had agents at (assuming they were there). It doesn't matter if they're LGBT. They can't break the law. And, they can't violate the terms of their liquor license.

 

Shouldn't they be convicted of breaking the lewdness law before the punishment is enacted. It seems strange to revoke the business liquor license on the complaint of breaking a law but potentially the hotel was not even charged or convicted of breaking said law. Essentially we are punishing the business without a conviction.

 

There has already been at least one thread on this and again it comes down to the “kids” (who could have been just under age) were accompanied by a parent

This bit is interesting

https://www.businessinsider.com/des...-miami-alcohol-license-after-drag-show-2023-3

The appropriate word is “performance politics “. While people are concentrating on this they are not noticing crime rates, degree of homelessness, unemployment. Poor wages etc etc etc

 

They don't have to. Seriously, if you sell cigarettes and an official sees you selling a pack without first asking to see an I.D. your license to sell cigarettes gets immediately suspended for 4-6 months immediately here in California. No courts needed. The same goes with liquor licenses.

 

This is not about selling liquor to minors though. According to @CornPop the reason why their license was revoked was because they broke a Florida lewdness law while selling alcohol. Shouldn't the business have to be convicted of breaking that law first? Shouldn't they revoking of the liquor license come down as part of the judgement for breaking that law including other fines or jail time if required?

 

I can't understand for the life of me how even adults get off on this sick stuff.

 

You don't need to be convicted of violating the law to have punitive measures taken for violating the terms of your license. It's just doubly stupid to also break the law. For example, the Board of Health doesn't have to wait until you're convicted of a crime to shut down your restaurant for observed violations. The Fire Marshall doesn't have to wait until a conviction to shut down your establishment either. The alcohol license comes with terms and conditions and is highly regulated. I'm sure there's regulations around lewdness and adult entertainment as it relates to a liquor license as well as following all applicable laws while selling alcohol.

 

It seems the difference is, all of the violations you mentioned have to do with what those groups monitors or oversees. In your example the board of health inspects a restaurant for health violations such as insects, rodents or improper storage of food, etc... They do not shut down the restaurant if the are accused of tax fraud. The same is true with the fire Marshall. If they find problems in the building that impact fire safety they can have the building shut down but if the business is suspected of money laundering the fire Marshall does not get involved. So why do the alcohol authorities get involved in a misdemeanor crime regarding lewdness? I can understand if they observed the business selling alcohol to a minor or server a patron that is way over the limit but this seems as unrelated as taking away a business's alcohol license for not paying parking tickets. This seems like a total over reach in power. The idea that the alcohol authorities can take away a business license because the business is accuse of a crime unrelated to alcohol is kind of crazy. The crime is not even a felony and if the hotel is charged all they would have to do is pay a fine. The fine is suppose to be the punishment for the crime imposed by a judge. Now you have another group that is also imposing a financial punishment for the same crime and in this case they have the greater power of being able to impose financial damage without having to prove it in a court of law. The business cannot even put up a defense. I don't know how you do not see how ridiculous this is.

Just to continue this example, if the health inspector returns to the restaurant and let say the restaurant no longer has rodents they can re-open. If the fire Marshall returns to the building and now they have proper water sprinklers the building can re-open. Using your example when does the alcohol board come back to the hotel and see that the show is over and give them their license back. Can you honestly tell me this is about a violation and not about a punitive action?

 

Just ask the business owners whose licenses were revoked during covid.