Lawmakers oppose public funding for 'sexually explicit' events

Penn veered from the committee’s published agenda to make the motion, as WDH grant funding allocations are not included on the committee’s larger list of interim topics. That list begins with maternal health and child care access issues.

Saturday’s Drag Queen Bingo event was hosted by a nonprofit called Wyoming AIDS Assistance, and received $3,000 in federal funding channeled through WDH. Stefan Johansson, director of the department, said that his agency saw the event as an opportunity to utilize federal funding for HIV/AIDS and other STI disease prevention efforts.

“We take an agnostic and even absent position on cultural issues that organizations like these put on, but (consider funding) when there is a disease prevention potential,” Johannsen said.

The department did not plan or host the event, Johannsen said, and was transparent about what federal funding was allocated to it. Penn pushed back, saying that one of the risk factors for contracting HIV is the influence of drugs and alcohol. The bingo event in Laramie promoted dangerous behaviors, especially when it comes to substance use, Penn said.

“You say you are agnostic on the issue, but we are using taxpayer dollars, and I don’t think the taxpayers are agnostic,” she said.

“On paper, they focus this as being a prevention-directed event, but the advertisements and things that were put out to the community seem otherwise,” Penn said. “Their exact words were, ‘This is R-rated and not for children, salty language and dirty jokes and booze a-plenty.’ The reality is different than what the on-paper intent would be.”

Johannsen told the committee that the department would review its grant application process to determine if the presence of alcohol could limit potential future awards for disease prevention efforts, adding that he did not know if that would be possible.

Rep. Mike Yin, D-Jackson, said he understood the proposed bill draft was aimed at the drag show in Laramie, but asked if it could unintentionally affect other events, like an annual Bras for A Cause auction in Jackson, which raises funding for the St. John’s Hospital Foundation Women’s Health Fund to support breast cancer awareness.

“Where is the line, and how sexually explicit are we talking about?” Yin asked. “Where is the line, or is it only LGBTQ (events)?”

Several other committee members, including Sen. Anthony Bouchard, R-Cheyenne, and Sen. Lynn Hutchings, R-Cheyenne, expressed concern over the “adult” content of the drag show, and the fact that alcohol was being sold at the event. Bouchard said he was concerned an event that served alcohol would, in fact, limit people’s decision-making capacity, thereby increasing the potential for spread of disease.

Jonathan Downing, representing the Wyoming Press Association, expressed concern that the issue was not noticed in the meeting materials, nor was the public informed that it would be on Monday’s agenda.

After a voice vote in favor of Penn’s motion, co-Chairman Rep. Dan Zwonitzer, R-Cheyenne, directed the Legislative Service Office to work on draft legislation for the committee to consider.