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By Giulia Carbonaro
Senior Reporter
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A video of a man twerking in front of a group of children at the family-friendly Minneapolis Pride has become viral on social media. It has set off a backlash from conservative commentators and sparked a debate over what's appropriate and what's not during an event that's meant to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community.
A clip from Sunday's Minneapolis Pride parade shows a man wearing a white pair of underwear, boots, white socks, and a rainbow band around his tights. He can be seen twerking in front of the cheering crowd several times during the parade.
On several occasions in the clip, a group of children can be seen in the audience, either quietly looking at the man, laughing, and in a couple of cases, dancing and jumping. In one part of the clip, one parent turns their kid away from the view of the man twerking.
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The clip sparked a backlash on social media, with some saying the man shouldn't have been twerking in front of children. The well-being and safety of kids has become a key issue around which conservative and anti-LGBTQ+ forces across the country have recently rallied. They say that restricting trans rights and drag performances with children in the audience is in the best interest of minors.
Across the country, more than 20 Republican-led states have passed laws directed at restricting access to gender-affirming care for minors, limiting access to health care for trans youth. Many have passed or tried to pass legislation banning drag shows with children in the audience, including reading events like Drag Story Hour. The aim, they say, is to protect kids from indecency.
The video of the man twerking in Minneapolis, Minnesota, tapped into this sentiment shared by conservatives. "Even if you vote for Joe Biden, you can't possibly think that having kids watch this man with more hair on his back than his head twerk is appropriate," tweeted political commentator Joey Mannarino.
"What kind of man decides that he wants to twerk for children anyway? This is a total stain on the LGBTQ+ community and if they don't remove this stuff from their parades, they want it there," Mannarino added.
The clip was also shared by Libs of TikTok, a handle for notoriously anti-LGBTQ+ and far-right social media accounts popular among conservatives. "This man twerking for kids appears to be the same man who twerked for kids at last year's Minnesota pride parade. Is this a yearly tradition?" the account wrote. A clip was shared of the same person twerking during the Minneapolis Pride the year before.
Others who found the man twerking distasteful blamed the parents who had brought the children to the event in the first place. Others tweeted that it's the parents' rights to decide what's decent for their kids. "I agree there should be [an] appropriateness standard but nonetheless, let's let the parents decide what is best for their children and not you or the government," tweeted a user.
While anti-LGBTQ+ accounts like Libs of TikTok attempted to use the case of the man twerking to condemn the whole celebration of Pride and Pride month, many pointed out that this was just one person who didn't necessarily represent the whole community.
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