Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene Exhibited My Image in a Congressional Setting, Labeling Me as a Monster. Here's My Justification for Countering Back.
In a recent House Delivering on Government Efficiency subcommittee hearing, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized public media outlets PBS and NPR, citing drag queen author Lil Miss Hot Mess as an example of what she called "radical left positions."
Lil Miss Hot Mess, a professor of media studies and a founding organizer of the #MyNameIs campaign that challenged Facebook's "real names" policy, has made a name for herself in the world of media and entertainment. She has appeared on world-class stages like SFMOMA, Stanford University, and Saturday Night Live, and her work includes several books such as "Make Your Own Rainbow: A Drag Queen's Guide to Color," "If You're a Drag Queen and You Know It," and the children's book "The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish."
The children's book, a playful parody, has been used in disingenuous attempts to stoke fear about LGBTQ+ people. This is not the first time Lil Miss Hot Mess has faced political backlash. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other politicians have attacked her in the past.
During the hearing, Greene displayed a large portrait of Lil Miss Hot Mess and accused these public broadcasters of promoting such content. She argued for the complete defunding and dismantling of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which allocates federal funds to public media, citing Lil Miss Hot Mess’s work on the show "Let’s Learn" as a reason to cut funding.
Lil Miss Hot Mess described Greene’s actions as a slanderous and defamatory attack intended to stoke fear about LGBTQ+ people and justify cuts to federal public media funding. The hearing itself was framed as a confrontation over alleged ideological bias in public media, with Greene calling for funding cuts despite the Corporation for Public Broadcasting receiving $535 million in the current fiscal year, mostly distributed to stations.
Greene's rhetoric suggests that LGBTQ-affirmative media is a form of "sexualizing and grooming ... brainwashing and transing children." However, it's important to note that the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child insists that children have the right to freedom of expression, including access to diverse media from a diversity of cultural, national, and international sources.
The show featuring the drag queen on PBS was produced by local affiliate WNET, not by PBS itself. Lil Miss Hot Mess also serves on the board of Drag Queen Story Hour, an organisation that promotes inclusivity and diversity through storytelling.
The author invites readers to submit compelling personal stories to HuffPost for potential publication. Instructions for doing so are available on HuffPost's website. You can find more information about Lil Miss Hot Mess on her website, lilmisshotmess.com, and on social media under the handle @LilMissHotMess.
This incident has further politicized the support and governance of public broadcasting in the US, with the debate over the role of public media and federal funding continuing to evolve.
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