An entertainment company based in London has sparked international outrage for organizing events that feature scantily clad drag performers dancing provocatively in front of an audience of parents and infants.
The company, known as Caba Baba Rave, came under fire after a video of one of its events was shared by broadcaster Dominique Samuels on social media.
In the footage, adult men wearing little more than a thong can be seen gyrating in front of a crowd of adults and young children. One performer is wearing tight black shorts and thigh-high stiletto boots while twirling on aerial ropes, while another wearing just a thong and high heels perform an impressive balancing act upside down on a chair.
The social media storm prompted Samuels, who emphasized that she has no issue with the LGBT community or drag when it is performed for adults, to label the event as "absolutely abhorrent."
According to The Post Millennial, the now-unavailable company website described Caba Baba Rave as "an exciting new event for parents and their babies," adding that it provides "show-stopping cabaret interspersed with captivating baby sensory moments" and culminates in a "RAVE." The company was founded by two "performers turned mums" named Lizzie and Gemma, who aimed to create an event that would appeal to parents and babies alike.
"We wanted to give parents the experience of a big London night out.. cabaret, drinks and dancing.. but one you can bring your baby to and still be home for bedtime," they explained.
The events, which are aimed at parents and babies under two years old, have notably sexual themes, including "Naked Chats," during which panelists posed "naked whilst in theyre in conversation about nakedness," and a drag puppet show called "The Sodomite," as reported by Reduxx.
Caba Baba Rave's social media accounts have been made private following the outrage. At the company's launch in January 2022, drag queen Miss Lucinda B. Hind performed the inaugural cabaret act. The DJ for the event was Mister Molly, a "drag clown." Both performers are affiliated with the "House of Naked," which is described on its Instagram page as a "hedonistic utopiathat fuses drag icons, cabaret greats and circus legends into one queer spellbinding show."
One photograph on Caba Baba Rave's Instagram page shows a drag queen doing the splits with a crowd of mother-and-baby onlookers. Another post features a screenshot of a message criticizing the company's inappropriate form of baby entertainment, with the caption "YEY SHAME. Best review ever."
Some critics of the event have gone so far as to call for the parents who attend such events to lose custody of their children. "The parents that take their children to events like this should lose custody of their children, and the companies and people that put them on should be locked up. Absolutely revolting," posted by Gays Against Groomers.
The controversy has also prompted discussion about the appropriateness of exposing young children to sexually suggestive material. "Remember: bare-buttocked drag queens - in g-strings & PVC boots - performing to babies & toddlers is 'just like the panto.' To object to this makes you a Nazi, Far Right & a racist. All clear?" was tweeted by journalist Martin Daubney.
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