Confirmed: Video Shows Drag Queen Dancing for Preschooler

In a resurgence of controversy that has sparked debate about child-appropriate entertainment, a video from 2020 showing a drag performer dancing in revealing attire before a young child has gone viral again after being recirculated on social media platforms last month.

The footage, which first appeared online in February 2020, depicts a scene at what appears to be a drag brunch event. In the video, a drag performer wearing shorts that partially expose her buttocks is seen dancing and slowly crawling on hands and knees toward a young girl seated in a chair. The performer then shakes her rear end, embraces the child, and kisses the side of her head—all while surrounding adults respond with applause, smiles, and record the interaction on their phones.

The clip gained renewed attention when Brittany M. Hughes, managing editor at Media Research Center’s MRCTV, shared it on her popular Facebook page on October 22. Hughes’s post, which displayed the caption “Scantily-clad drag queen performs for preschooler,” included her commentary: “A half-n*de man dressed as a woman gyrated for a preschooler while grown adults laughed and clapped. How is this legal???”

The MRC Culture Facebook page subsequently reposted Hughes’s content, garnering over one million views. The organization, which describes itself as fighting against “Big Tech companies that aim to suppress conservative voices,” helped propel the years-old video back into public discourse.

While some viewers questioned if the video might be AI-generated, fact-checking confirms it is authentic footage that predates the widespread availability of sophisticated AI video generation tools like OpenAI’s Sora 2. The video’s authenticity has been verified, though there is no confirmation that the child is specifically of preschool age, as claimed in the captions.

The Daily Caller, a news outlet co-founded by Tucker Carlson, reported on the video when it first circulated in 2020. Their coverage identified the performer as Canadian drag queen Tynomi Banks, who uses she/her pronouns. According to The Daily Caller, the original TikTok post included the caption: “The friendship we didn’t know we needed, but now can’t live without.”

The video’s resurgence reflects the continuing cultural tensions surrounding drag performances and children. When the footage initially appeared in 2020, it emerged during a period of heightened conservative criticism of “Drag Queen Story Hour” library events organized for children. These events had become flashpoints in broader debates about age-appropriate content and LGBTQ+ visibility.

Attempts to reach Banks through various channels for comment on the circumstances of the video have been made. Similarly, Media Research Center has been contacted about their decision to recirculate the years-old content, but no responses have been received at the time of publication.

The video quality in recent shares appears noticeably degraded compared to earlier versions, including a slightly higher quality clip published by The Daily Caller in February 2020. That version included on-screen text suggesting, “This sweet little girl asked her mom to get a better view,” though this claim cannot be independently verified.

This incident highlights the persistent tensions in American cultural discourse around drag performances, children’s exposure to various forms of entertainment, and how social media can resurface older content in new contexts, often stripped of its original setting and background information.

As the video continues to circulate and generate discussion, it serves as a reminder of how contentious questions about entertainment, parental discretion, and cultural values remain at the forefront of public debate in America.