A conservative, Republican-voting, straight, married business owner in Oklahoma has been attacked and harassed on social media for hosting a drag event at her restaurant.
Sharon Hurst, an Air Force veteran who owns the restaurant Crossing 2nd in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, told the news site Oklahoma Watch that she’s been targeted by a Tennessee-based ministry called Warriors for Christ.
The group, which has been labeled a “hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center, regularly travels the country and protests Drag Queen Story Time and Pride events.
One of those events was Bartlesville Pride, held in a public park last September, during which members of Warriors for Christ allegedly shouted vulgarities at Pride performers, including drag queens, while holding up a sign reading, “Got AIDS yet?”
The incident — and the outcry from local residents angered by the presence of drag queens in public, where they could be seen by children — ultimately led the city council to ban “adult entertainment” in public parks.
Hurst says Pastor Rich Penkoski, the leader of Warriors for Christ, has turned his attention from Bartlesville Pride and has instead been harassing her and her customers on social media over a drag event held at the restaurant.
In November, Penkoski posted a video of a drag queen performing, claiming that children were in attendance at the event, and calling Hurst a liar for denying the charge in a Facebook reply.
“The owner is trying to say there were no children present but the video didn’t lie. You can see what is obviously a teenager and you can hear small children giggling,” Penkoski wrote in the description of the video on YouTube. “Please contact them and let them know how disgusting and inappropriate this was. How NOT family friendly this is and make sure your church (if your (sic) in or around Bartlesville) knows what they did and do NOT give them your business until they publicly repent for this…
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