Senator Calls Out Colleague Over Bucks County Rainbow Room Comment

DOYLESTOWN, PA – Bucks County State Senator Steve Santarsiero (D-10) is blasting his senate colleague, Republican Doug Mastriano, for unfairly characterizing Planned Parenthood’s Bucks County Rainbow Room Queer Prom in a memo circulated to members of the state senate.

In the memo, Mastriano, who represents Franklin County in South Central Pennsylvania, mentions Bucks County's Rainbow Room in announcing his intentions to introduce legislation banning drag shows on public property and in areas that can been seen by minors.

Mastriano writes that in October 2022, "a sexually charged drag show for audience members as young as 13 was performed at the Rainbow Room in Bucks County.

“My legislation will classify drag shows as an 'adult-oriented business' under Title 68," he writes. "As an adult oriented business, commonsense limits would have to be considered that protect minors. This includes location of performance, age of the intended audience, etc.

“It is disheartening that legislation like this is needed," he writes. "Parents have a right to know their children are not being exposed to sexually charged content in a public forum. Drag shows that appeal to minors on school property, libraries, and other public places should not be accepted in any functioning society. My legislation will ensure that this no longer occurs in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”

In response to Mastriano’s memo, Santarsiero issued an open letter to the Pennsylvania State Senate condemning Senator Mastriano’s Rainbow Room comment.

"While I disagree with the gentleman’s proposal as a matter of policy, I take particular exception to his distorted characterization of the Rainbow Room’s Queer Prom, a dance specifically arranged for LGBTQ+ youth in Bucks Count," writes Santarsiero.

The Rainbow Room, which Planned Parenthood established over 20 years ago to be a safe place for LGBTQ+ youth to come together and build self-esteem, first held the prom in February 2020.

"I was at that event, both as an elected official sponsoring it and as a parent (our younger son had come out as gay about 8 months before and was excited to attend the prom with his friends)," writes Santarsiero. "Due to the pandemic, the Rainbow Room had to cancel the prom in 2021, but was able to hold it again this past fall. While family weekend at our younger son’s college prevented me from attending that prom, I once again agreed to sponsor the dance. Its organizers sent me a video of it later.

"What I observed in person in 2020 – and again by watching the video of the 2022 prom – was a large group of teenagers having fun," writes Santarsiero. "What struck me, in fact, was that they could have been kids – gay or straight – at any school in the country. For the most part, they danced with the same awkwardness as any other teenager – I say that endearingly as someone who even in late middle-age is still awkward on the dance floor. What was apparent was that each one of them was happy. They were happy to be with their friends and happy to be in a loving environment where it was OK to be themselves.

"Many of these students do not feel accepted by their peers – although it has been my experience both as a teacher and a parent that the younger generations are far more open to them than older ones – and at times by adults, which, sadly, can include family members," writes Santarisiero. "Indeed, the Central Bucks School District, where many of these students attend school, is presently led by a board majority that has created an educational environment that is openly hostile to LBGTQ+ youth. So, having an organization like the Rainbow Room and an event like the Queer Prom can very literally save the lives of kids who otherwise experience feelings of depression and isolation.

"With this background, I hope you can appreciate why I was saddened and indeed angered when I read the gentleman’s co-sponsorship memo, which described the 2022 prom as 'a sexually charged [sic] drag show.' I can only assume that this distortion, written by someone who was not present, is based on the fact that one student and one recent alum of the Rainbow Room dressed in drag and danced at the request of the prom committee. That can hardly be grounds for describing the hours-long prom as a 'drag show'.

"As for it being sexually charged, I will not attempt to get into the gentleman’s mind to decipher what exactly he meant by that phrase, although I note that it is one that is most often used by those, who, solely on their own authority, take on the mantel of arbiter of morality in ironic disregard of the biblical admonition against judging," writes Santarisero. "I would simply suggest that it might be a challenge to find a prom in America at which someone would not be offended by what they would consider inappropriate behavior or dress. With that in mind, we should be careful not to hold LGBTQ+ youth to a different standard than that of straight young people.

"In any event, I am not aware of any parent of the students who attended the 2022 Queer Prom (and there were over 30 parents there as chaperones), who objected to any aspect of it, either beforehand or afterward. That would include the much-decried swag bags, which included, among other things, condoms, 'lube', and, perhaps most scandalous for some, information about Planned Parenthood.

"I only hope that as members of our State Senate, we can rise above ignorance and remember that we have a special obligation to stand up for the most vulnerable members of our society."