Unsolicited text messages amplify Derek Schmidt’s lies about Kansas drag show

TOPEKA — Derek Schmidt’s lies about a nonexistent connection between Gov. Laura Kelly and a Wichita drag show are being amplified through unsolicited text messages to Kansas voters.

Schmidt, the GOP candidate for governor, has used a false story from a U.K. tabloid to attack his Democratic rival as their bitter campaign enters the final two-week stretch. No state funding was used to support or promote the performance.

Schmidt also equated the drag show to the sexualization of children, a nod to bigotry often directed at the LGBTQ community. As evidence, his campaign distributed photos of a drag show performer who was actually a woman.

Text messages delivered Tuesday night touted “BREAKING NEWS” about Kelly being “under fire for her Department of Commerce’s role in taxpayer funded ‘all ages’ drag shows involving children.”

Kelly’s campaign said it reported the text messages to the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission for review.

“Schmidt should be embarrassed,” said Lauren Fitzgerald, a spokeswoman for Kelly’s campaign. “First, he’s unable to provide evidence about his own false attack at a press conference. Then he digs in his heels after reporters debunk his lies, and now he’s spreading lies to voters through text messages.”

The Commerce Department provides funding to an arts commission that gave a grant to a Wichita organization to pay for an artist’s residency. That Wichita organization hosted the drag show, which was actually funded by the Knight Foundation and local retailers.

The unsolicited text messages provided a link to a U.K. Daily Mail story, published Monday, that falsely claimed the drag show was taxpayer funded.

“Read more, plus see the shocking pictures and video,” the text read.

The text and story feature images of FaeTality, a Wichita dancer who said in an interview with Kansas Reflector that she just likes to dress up and perform.

Some Republicans incorrectly assumed the dancer was a man. FaeTality said she has been female since birth, was a member of her high school dance team, and was a dance major in college. She described the routine as “tame.”

“This is literally just because I love to dance,” FaeTality said. “I love to put on the costumes and the makeup and everything, and go out there and perform.”