Rick Brattin (r) and Denny Hoskins (r) are the pre-eminent legal scholars and final arbiters of the law in the State of Missouri, said no one ever.

Rick Brattin (r) [2013 file photo].

Denny Hoskins (r) [2017 file photo].

A group billing themselves as Johnson County Citizens for the Protection of Children is still up in arms about the Warrensburg Pride Festival scheduled for June 3, 2023. There will be drag shows on the program. You know, fancy costumes, theatrical makeup, show tunes. This is nothing new. There were Pride Festivals in Warrensburg in 2021 and 2022.

These right wingnut busybodies had organized on-line to present a petition to the Warrensburg City Council during the public comment portion of the City Council’s evening meeting on April 24th to limit or cancel the Pride Festival. A loosely organized group of LGBTQIA+ allies organized on-line to speak in support of the Pride Festival.

The pearl clutching busybodies returned to last night’s City Council to demand an ordinance banning drag shows in Warrensburg, this time with photos on posterboard. In the period between the two council meetings the producers of the Pride Festival had already changed the festival format to 18 years of age and older due to reported threats against the festival and the venue. A similar group of LGBTQIA+ allies attended and signed in to speak in support of the Pride Festival and against a city ordinance.

At last night’s meeting several of the busybodies made reference to a letter from Rick Brattin (r) addressed to the Warrensburg Police Department dated April 21, 2023. At the end of the meeting we requested a copy of the letter from the city. Denny Hoskins (r) also signed the letter.

…It has recently come to my attention that the “Warrensburg Pride Festival” program is scheduled for Saturday, June 3…in Warrensburg, Missouri. This is troubling for several reasons. First, the show is advertised as “family-friendly” and for guests “of all ages.” The event promotion includes no warning for “adult content” whatsoever for these drag shows that event organizers deem “family friendly.” A simple internet [sic] of similar shows reveals the content of such events is, at best, inappropriate for all ages and, at worst, highly sexualized and wholly unsuitable for children.

In fact, reports of these shows are so obscene and indecent that listing them in this letter would be unsuitable as it may be read minors. There can be no reasonable doubt that the good people of Warrensburg would be appalled by the behavior on display at these types of events, especially considering this behavior is being actively marketed to their children in apparent hopes they would become desensitized to such tasteless activities, and as a result, become sexualized at a young age. Not only are these shows immoral, but they are also illegal under Missouri State statute…

…It is abundantly clear that drag shows violate the existing Missouri State Statute, and it is time for them to be dealt accordingly. When I became a Marine, I swore an oath to the Constitution, and that oath never expires. Our Federal and State Constitutions share a common thread: all of us, whether elected officials or law enforcement officers, have a duty to protect the most vulnerable in our community. Our most precious resource, our children, is under attack, and it is time that we engage with those who harm them by destroying their hearts and minds.

I call on my fellow patriots with the Warrensburg Police Department to put a stop to this behavior and enforce Missouri’s existing laws. These types of events must be stopped, and the businesses that facilitate these events must be punished. We must also deal with these “drag queens” who are just men with perverted intentions, in accordance with exiting state law. I know these battles are not easy, but I want Chief Munsterman, and every member of the Warrensburg Police Department to know that I will…

…have your back. Not only will I have your back, but I am willing to stand alongside you as you protect our community.

I want to close out this letter by thanking the Warrensburg Police Department for all that you do. You deal with the madness of society so the rest of us can go home each night and enjoy our families in peace. Thank you, and God bless you.

Respectfully,
s/
Rick Brattin
[….]

s/
Denny Hoskins
[….]

Letter from Rick Brattin (r) and Denny Hoskins (r) to the Warrensburg Police

The only thing that’s actually obscene in this entire episode is this letter.

Previously:

Warrensburg Pride Festival – June 26, 2021 (June 26, 2021)

Local busybodies engage in pearl clutching (June 3, 2022)

“I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians, they are so unlike your Christ.” (June 4, 2022)

Pride Festival – Warrensburg, Missouri – June 4, 2022 (June 4, 2022)

The pearl clutching right wingnut bigots among us (April 19, 2023)

Always the other (April 21, 2023)

Meta – The pearl clutching right wingnut bigots among us (April 22, 2023)

Unified Field Theory of Right Wingnut Pearl Clutching, Self-Righteousness, and Victimhood (April 22, 2023)

Addressing Bigotry – Warrensburg, Missouri City Council – April 24, 2023 (April 25, 2023)

Addressing Bigotry – Warrensburg, Missouri City Council – April 24, 2023 – part 2 (April 26, 2023)

Addressing Bigotry – Warrensburg, Missouri City Council Meeting – May 8, 2023 (May 9, 2023)

Addressing Bigotry – Warrensburg, Missouri City Council Meeting – May 8, 2023 – part 2 (May 9, 2023)