“Kudos to the president of Tennessee Technological College, Philip Oldham, for taking a robust stand in opposition to an anti-Catholic occasion that occurred on his campus,” Donohue mentioned in a press release posted on the Catholic League’s web site.
“President Oldham has acted responsibly, which is why I’m tapping the brakes. However Catholics ought to know what we had been about to do,” he added, referring to his attraction to authorities leaders.
Sponsoring group responds
Donohue’s letter to Oldham identifies the drag performer at Joshua Lancaster, utilizing the stage identify WitchCrafted.
In a response to a request for remark, Lancaster, who hosts a podcast referred to as Witch Crafted, declined to substantiate that he was the performer seen within the video. He emailed CNA a press release issued Friday by Higher Cumberland Pleasure, the present’s sponsoring group.
“The accusations made on social media are usually not solely false however damaging to all these concerned. Our hope is to resolve this misunderstanding with the college and proceed to coach the neighborhood about our group and the LGBTQIA+ neighborhood,” the assertion reads.
“The performer in query by no means offered themselves as a member of the clergy and didn’t converse in opposition to any faith, together with Christianity. The performer additionally had a number of layers of clothes on, and was lined from neck to toe in material, even after the costume change,” the assertion continued.
“At any of our household pleasant occasions, no kids are ever put in any sexual scenario, nor would we ever think about that an appropriate factor to do,” the group mentioned.
“After we maintain all ages occasions, performers are requested to make sure that tune lyrics are clear and that there isn’t any sexual connotation to their performances. We would like everybody in attendance to really feel secure, welcome, and to have a very good time,” the assertion mentioned.
“Whereas the assertion from the TTU President Phil Oldham is disheartening, UCP stands behind the performers and their performances at The Again Door Playhouse,” the assertion added.
Higher Cumberland Pleasure says on its web site that it “unites the Lesbian, Homosexual, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and allied communities in assist of the inclusion, dignity, and equality of all individuals.”
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Backdoor Playhouse posted a press release on its Fb web page Friday morning after Oldham’s assertion was launched.
“#Pleasure isn’t a factor we do one month out of the yr. It’s a part of our core rules right here on the Backdoor Playhouse. It’s our tradition and our identification. It’s us!” the put up reads. “To all of our LGBTQ+ pals: We love you! We see you! We stand with you!”
On its webpage, the group’s creative director, Mark Harry Creter, says the group seeks “to know theatre not solely as a way of creative expression and a type of leisure however as a window into historical past, a approach to look at the query of what it means to be human, and a automobile for social change.”
Neither Creter, a theater professor at Tennessee Tech, nor a college spokesperson had been instantly obtainable for remark Saturday.
Tennessee Tech is positioned in Cookeville, Tennessee, and has an enrollment of about 10,000 college students.
Shannon Mullen is the Editor-in-Chief of CNA. He beforehand labored as a options author, investigative reporter, and editor with the Asbury Park (N.J.) Press. He has acquired quite a few nationwide reporting awards and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
Joseph Bukuras is a employees author on the Catholic Information Company. Joe holds a bachelor’s diploma in Political Science from The Catholic College of America. He has interned within the U.S. Home of Representatives, on a U.S. Senate marketing campaign, within the Massachusetts State Home of Representatives, and on the Susan B. Anthony Checklist. He’s based mostly out of the Boston space.
