The brewery where a child touched the groin of a drag queen at a “family friendly” drag show claims it is the victim of Republican smears.
“We hosted Chattanooga Pride on Saturday September 24 as one of their locations to hold a Family Friendly Pride Event as part of Chattanooga Pride Week,” Wanderlinger Brewing Company Co-Owner Chris Dial told The Tennessee Star in an email exchange.
“We have hosted a few of these events over the last few years for them with one of the more recent even including local politicians. The video that was taken by a supporter of Robby Starbuck [and] was a targeted attack against our business and more specifically the LGBQT community as seen with similar events they targeted at [Tennessee] Tech, Memphis and calling for action against more. If you look at his social media he is very strongly targeting this kind of activity across the state, whether you agree or not that is the fact,” he wrote.
Starbuck ran for U.S. Congress in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District this year, but was eventually booted from the ballot.
Dial then attempted to minimize the incident, saying that the adult in the mermaid costume whose groin the child touched was a biological woman, seemingly excusing the inappropriateness of the physical contact.
He also compared the drag dancers to cheerleaders and Rockette dancers.
Dial told The Star:
The video and picture that people are using as their backing is far off base. The mermaid that people are highlighting is an actual woman (born a woman, still a woman) who was part of the Disney princess group (Chattanooga Princess Parties) that was hired to support the rest of the show. The girl touching her sequins are kids fascinated with something shiny, not doing anything inappropriate to anyone as they are highlighting. The dancer onstage was also a biological female as well (performer name Gin Von Tonic) who dresses in drag but is a born biological woman and runs the Chattanooga Pride organization. Angle showing the high kick (no different that a cheerleader or Rockette dancer except this was a man in drag) with multiple layers of tights and black drawers as part of her costume. This group has performed this same show at Drag Brunches and Drag Days all across town at many of the loved establishments you know well. These facts can be verified by Chattanooga Pride as the facilitating organization.
Dial went on to question the legality of filming the event.
“The families in attendance had no issues with anything that occurred and have supported us on social media defending their choice, their children and Chattanooga Pride,” he said. “I would question if these people have any legal right to video and disperse images of these children without legal consent, making this part of their agenda to ruin our business and the community they disapprove of.”
He did take some responsibility, saying that “[a]s the owners of Wanderlinger my brother and I are ultimately responsible for what happens related with any groups that we approve to use our space.”
Dial told The Star the brewery hosts events for all types of groups, including “despite race, color, ethnicity, gender or orientation.”
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Chattanooga Brewing Drag Show” by Libs of TikTok.
How about that psychedelic polar bear head in the background, I wonder if that is part of their weird pagan rituals. What if this “brewery” is really a cult house, like a Charles Manson church? I wouldn’t want my kid to be at this sick groin-stroke-mitzvah. I hope our state representatives will do something to stop these atrocities!
The damn place needs to be shut down or destroyed and the sick perverted nut jobs given a chose on prison or gathering their belongings and getting the hell out of Chattanooga!
The owner(s) of this brewery are as sick as the drag queens. Trying to normalize their lifestyle to kids because the adults won’t stand for it. The parents of the children are no better, disgusting. So your willing to jeopardize your business for this?
This is already out of hand around the country and now in Tennessee! It’s grooming and perverted, the parents should be reported for child abuse and the establishment should either get it’s liquor license revoked or be put on probation. So they claim it was a women it’s irrelevant. I wonder if some guy in the audience went up and rubbed her that way how would it have responded. I hope the politicians are taking notice so they can write some legislation if there aren’t already some on the books that address this perversion.
Lying now that the “mermaid” was actually a woman. At a drag show? Sure, we believe you. But it doesn’t matter, man or woman it is sexual abuse of a child and the persons responsible should be arrested.
I didn’t know this event was happening. This is an oppertunity to get parents and spiritual communities together to picket. This bar should be shut down. Show Chattanooga that businesses who host child groomer events get shut down.
I totally agree! there needs to be a great protest held in Chattanooga and people need to come together in unity and come against such debauchery and such depravity or if we don’t this is what we can expect in Chattanooga….
The brewery audit be charged criminally minors should not be in an establishment with alcohol especially with sexual perversion going on there’s a perverts sexual deviance
Sure, blame the guy who exposed it, rather than those that allowed it. Throw the owner, and everyone involved, in jail.
So what about the parents or other adults who bring their kids to these events? The so-called adults in whose care these children are placed always have the choice not to attend. I personally can’t understand the allure of drag shows regardless of whether it is considered some form of “art”, but it does concern me the censorship of which “cancel culture” is certainly a part, has severely hurt us.
its child endangerment and / or child abuse
The video speaks for itself. I don’t give a damn if the dress was shiny. The adult was responsible for telling the child to not touch that area, as it is inappropriate to ever touch a stranger there, and vice versa. I can’t believe it is even necessary to say this! Shame on the parents and the grooming performers and the restaurant that hosts this garbage.
Chattanooga is in the toilet. This place should be shut down.
Do you drink any brew from this pervert company ? Why ?
Anything to make a buck. This guy, his brother and their brewery are disgusting.
AMEN! We need to pray very hard for these people for a change of heart.