Gov. DeSantis cites 1947 Florida high court ruling in 2022 complaint against drag restaurant

08/30/2022 / By Ramon Tomey

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis cited a 1947 ruling by the Supreme Court of Florida (SCFL) that deemed drag performances as a public nuisance in a complaint. The Republican governor’s August 2022 lawsuit sought to revoke the liquor license of Hallandale, Florida restaurant R House for staging drag shows.

The July 29 complaint, filed by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) on DeSantis’ behalf, cited an October 1947 ruling by the Sunshine State’s high court. The said ruling affirmed the closure order for the Ha Ha Club, which was first ordered to shut its doors in March 1947 for being a “public nuisance.”

The SCFL’s decision affirmed the March 1947 closure order from the Broward County Circuit Court, which Ha Ha Club owner Charles “Babe” Baker appealed. Performances featuring “men impersonating women” – the equivalent of drag show performances today – were “nasty, suggestive and indecent” and injured “the manners and morals of the people,” it stated.

The Ha Ha Club’s shuttering stemmed from a February 1947 complaint filed by Frank Tuppen, a juvenile probation officer who was running for Broward County sheriff. He accused Baker and his establishment of implanting “immoral” things in the minds of the county’s youths and “breaking down their character.”

“General knowledge, it is nothing but a home of perverts, queers [and] phonies,” he told state attorney James Lathero at the time. Tuppen also alleged in his complaint that the Ha Ha club contributed to “juvenile delinquency” in Broward County.

Baker first opened the Ha Ha Club in 1933 as an offshoot of his establishment’s branch in New York City. It gained the moniker “Broadway’s favorite hangout spot,” which prompted Baker to set up another location in Florida.

The club owner later filed an appeal in response to the circuit court’s closure order on his establishment. Robert Lane, one of Baker’s lawyers, wrote in the appeal that “until an aspirant for a political office decided to complain,” the Ha Ha Club had a clean record in its 14 years of operations.

“There are different views as to what may injure the manners and morals of the public,” Lane also wrote.

Drag still a “public nuisance” more than 70 years on

Meanwhile, the July 2022 complaint against R House in Miami stemmed from a video posted by the Libs of TikTok account. The footage showed children at a drag brunch event in the establishment, with one child in particular being accompanied by a drag performer in lingerie. (Related: ‘Get your money, girls!’: Children flaunt their bodies at Miami Drag Queen show and take dollars from LGBT perverts.)

According to the DBPR’s complaint, a “nearly nude dancer” was recorded while “parading a young girl through the audience.” The aforementioned performer’s buttocks “were fully exposed,” while their G-string style bikini bottom “was stuffed with dollar bills” – a common sight in strip clubs. The transgender performer’s breasts were almost fully exposed, save for both nipples which were covered.

Using the 1947 ruling against the Ha Ha Club, the department accused R House of violating state public nuisance law by becoming “manifestly injurious to the morals or manners of the people.”

In an emailed statement, management for R House said it is aware of the DBPR’s complaint and that it is working with the agency to “rectify the situation.” If the complaint is successful, the Sunshine State could revoke the establishment’s liquor license.

Meanwhile, DeSantis remarked during a press conference that the DBPR “actually had agents going to this place, effectively just gathering information [and] seeing what’s going on.”

“What they found was not only were there minors there – and these are sexually explicit drag shows – the bar had a children’s menu. And you think to yourself: ‘Give me a break, what’s going on?'”

The GOP governor earlier remarked: “It used to be [that] kids would be off-limits … [and] everybody agreed with that. Now it’s just seems like there’s a concerted effort to expose kids more and more to things that are not age-appropriate.”

Watch Owen Shroyer of Infowars break down a video featuring a drag queen training children to dance like strippers at a drag show.

This video is from the InfoWars channel on Brighteon.com.