One Million Moms, a project of the
Christian conservative American Family Association (AFA), is livid at
Macy's for including a performance by the Tony Award-winning musical
Kinky Boots in its annual Thanksgiving Day Parade.
“Shame on Macy's for promoting this,”
the group wrote. “We cannot trust Macy's Dept. Store any longer.
This is the straw that broke the camel's back. It is clear that
Macy's does not have our children's best interest in mind. Macy's
need to know that trust must be earned and once trust is lost it is
difficult to get back.”
Kinky Boots tells the story of a
young man who turns around a shoe factory when he teams up with a
drag queen. The parade included a performance of the musical number
Raise You Up, which
celebrates diversity. (Video of the performance is embedded on this
page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
“Raise You Up was not suitable
for families for many reasons,” One
Million Moms wrote. “The inappropriate act starred Kinky
Boots, referencing a musical written to celebrate the differences
in each other and included: (all) the men and women in thigh-high
boots [mostly red pleather while others were sparkly 'hooker' boots],
a man in boxer shorts and men in burlesque and Moulin rouge costumes
prancing around expressing themselves, RuPaul (famous drag queen)
along with several men dressed in drag, transgender and
transvestites, singing and dancing as an expression of 'diversity'
and honoring whatever sexuality you want.”