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In this V1SUT Vantage Point:
What is Inappropriate in Public Spaces and Who Gets to Decide?
Where this Bartlesville Battle Began
OKEQ: Big Money Billionaires Reaching to Remake Rural Communities
What Begins Quietly, Emboldens Quickly
Standing Room Only at the Bartlesville City Council Meeting
OKEQ’s Argument: Don’t Believe Your Eyes and Know We Have Lawyers
Their Claims of Innocence are Comforting, Until You See the Unedited Version of Bartlesville Pride
A Pastor’s Warning to the City Council: Protect Your Community from Moral Degradation
Bartlesville Citizens Did Not Go Softly into the Darkening Progressive Night
Oklahoma Laws Protecting Children
The recent release of a video from a Bartlesville gay pride event is forcing one small community of just over 37,000 residents in Northeastern Oklahoma to ask itself some very important questions. What is appropriate in the presence of children, and what types of events are too perverse for public spaces?
Back in 2018, a local chapter of a group called Oklahomans for Equality (OKEQ) started an annual pride event in Bartlesville. This event began as a few hundred people meeting for a picnic in Johnstone Park, a pavilion and kiddie park owned by the city. This initial event went largely unnoticed, and the event did not occur during 2020. Since 2021, the Bartlesville Pride event has expanded and is now held at the very public Unity Square outdoor space and adjoining Bartlesville Community Center in the town center of Bartlesville.
OKEQ: Big Money Billionaires Reaching into Rural Communities
OKEQ is a well-funded, non-profit based out of Tulsa that operates the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center. Major sponsors of the organization include Oklahoma’s most well-known and progressive manipulanthropists (George Kaiser Family Foundation, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, and George Krumme, among others).
Following the group’s 2021 event in Bartlesville, OKEQ-Bartlesville Board Member Morgan Lawrence reflected the group’s goals by stating, “I definitely think we have a lot of work to do. The battle is not over (in Oklahoma). We live in a state that is extremely conservative.” The goal is not “equality”, as the group’s name suggests. It is to undo conservativism which indicates a lack of respect for the beliefs of others on the part of OKEQ.
What Begins Quietly, Emboldens Quickly
The 2022 Bartlesville Pride event, held on September 10th, raised more than one eyebrow for its content. The elevated stage at Unity Square can be seen from roads and buildings on all sides of the city center. Reports and complaints to the city detailed sexualized drag performances in the presence of children and participation by minors who were viewed giving money to the performers.
More than 2,000 citizens of Bartlesville signed a petition asking for the city to “Prohibit Adult Oriented Entertainment in a Public Space”. Given that we don’t allow minors in casinos, night clubs or exotic dance clubs, and those activities most certainly do not take place in an open, public environment, this petition seems like a reasonable request to grant.
Which brings into question who approved the event at Tower Center’s Unity Square? The event is reported to have been approved by the director of the Bartlesville Community Center, though two of the eleven current board members of the Community Center Trust Authority report not having voted on any such event being held at Unity Square. Details about the board’s structure, meetings and membership are available on the city’s website, but agendas are generic and minutes are not provided.
Billed as a “family friendly” event (above video from 2021 event), one resident expressed concern to this publication regarding the large number of attendees from outside of the community due to statewide promotion of Bartlesville Pride by OKEQ.
This lifelong resident described Bartlesville as a small town full of Christian families who look out for one another’s children. Her comments beg another equally important question. Does an outside group have the right to publicly force its worldview on a community with total disrespect for that community’s beliefs, customs and longstanding, mutual agreements about expectations for public conduct? Both sides turned to the Bartlesville City Council to see where the town’s current municipal laws stand on such public performances.
Standing Room Only at the City Council Meeting
On October 3rd, 2022, those petitioning the city to ban adult entertainment within the town’s public spaces and those in support of such events in the City of Bartlesville were in attendance at a packed city council meeting. As both sides presented their arguments, it became clear that either OKEQ’s Bartlesville spokesperson Morgan Lawrence-Hayes was lying about the content of the event or society has lost any collective agreement about what constitutes “adult oriented entertainment”.
OKEQ’s Argument: Don’t Believe Your Eyes and Know We Have Lawyers
“Oklahomans for Equality of Bartlesville agrees with the title of this petition ‘Prohibit Adult Oriented Entertainment in a Public Space’. We also do not want adult entertainment to take place in our public spaces. Fortunately, the pride event and drag performance did not include any form of adult entertainment. There are numerous photos and videos taken by attendees, including news outlets, and none of these support the version of the pride event and drag show that this petition alleges. Plainly stated, there was no nudity, no obscenity and no sexually suggestive performances.”
Their Claims of Innocence are Comforting, Until You See the Unedited Version of Bartlesville Pride
Morgan Lawrence-Hayes, by any standard, was lying to the Bartlesville City Council. Additional footage confirmed the petitioners’ claims. The recent posting of the video of a confirmed performance at the event and additional, uncovered video of the same performance prove Lawrence-Haye’s statement to be a hollow and inaccurate assurance by OKEQ. The performance by an obese male gyrating in a fringed, see-through bodysuit and fishnet hose clearly shows him grabbing his genitals, grinding on audience participants and collecting money from children throughout the performance.
Warning: The video below with additional footage of the above drag performance from the 2022 Bartlesville Pride event contains graphic content.
Truth appears to be less than relevant to Lawrence-Hayes, as within her comments, and knowing she was being deceptive about the content of the event performances, she assured the council the OKEQ would take legal action should the petition to ban adult entertainment in Bartlesville’s public spaces be granted.
Lawrence-Hayes stated:
“Lastly, I would like to remind our city leaders that any action taken to limit the ability of the LGBTQIA+ community to hold the pride event and drag show so long as we abide by the community standards would be considered discrimination. Should this happen, it would force OKEQ to respond with equally appropriate legal action to protect our freedom. That legal action would not only be costly to the city and to our taxpayers but divisive to our community.”
While Lawrence-Hayes claimed the Bartlesville Pride event was within “community standards”, it appears the City of Bartlesville will need to specifically define those standards for all groups using public spaces. Following the meeting, the City Attorney was to review those existing ordinances and provide a report to allow the council to make an appropriate ruling. The comments of council members as recorded within the meeting’s official minutes left the impression that several would be cowering to OKEQ’s demands, though at that time, none had yet seen the most graphic of the drag performance video.
A Pastor’s Warning to the City Council: Protect Your Community from Moral Degradation
Pastor David Grisham of For God and Country Ministry addressed the council using the plight of New Orleans as a warning for Bartlesville. Grisham attended the Bartlesville Pride event and witnessed the drag performances.
Bartlesville Citizens Did Not Go Softly into the Darkening Progressive Night
In the absence of city council action, and in light of the newest video footage showing clearly sexualized conduct in the presence of children at a public venue, last week, event attendee and Pastor Rich Penkoski addressed the Bartlesville City Council to express his concerns about the grooming of children by drag queens.
At that November 7th meeting, the City’s Attorney stalled with the following document which describes the issue as “controversial and confounding” and promises a Power Point presentation of the official report to be presented to council members at a later, unspecified date. Specifics of the report will only be available to the public through an open records request:
At this point in the battle for Bartlesville, both sides have access to legal counsel as the City of Bartlesville deliberates on what it means to protect children in public spaces. The V1SUT Vantage, in previous reporting, recently informed readers about what state law has to say about such matters.
According to Oklahoma law, the disturbing picture above from the OKC Pride Alliance’s Pridefest depicts an act of child neglect that any adult in attendance (or with knowledge of) is mandated by law to immediately report to the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS) Abuse and Neglect Hotline. Neglect is defined, in part, within the law as:
“The failure or omission to protect a child from exposure to any of the following: The use, possession, sale, or manufacture of illegal drugs; Illegal activities; Sexual acts or materials that are not age-appropriate.” - Citation: Ann. Stat. Tit. 10A, § 1-1-105
You can bet The V1SUT Vantage will be following up on this ongoing story in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
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The real crime is the Bad Blanchard's and their tower scam, they are using the Pricetower to indoctrinate young boys into wearing girls panties and blackmailing them with videos and pictures. Stop the abuse of children! The Bartlesville Police will do nothing and even threaten the children who produce videos showing their abuse by Cynthia and Anthem Blanchard. Stop the criminal child sexual abuse. The Blanchard's have the County Judge's in their pocket. Blanchard's have threatened the VICTIMS with Judge Thomas and Judge Vaclaw saying that their judge's will jail anyone who complains. Don't bring your children to the price tower! Any adult who goes to the price tower should be avoided. Let us Stop the abuse of children and drive out these child predators from the community. Anthem and Cynthia Blanchard came to our community 5 years ago and have done nothing but exploit our children and lie to us stealing our money while all the time claiming they are ultra wealthy. Stop the madness. Let us vote out their special friends and restore family values to our City.
I hate to say this because I do not support public drag performances, but the video with additional footage looks manipulated. In fact, badly and obviously altered to add some sort of penis looking thing. Any type of fake does nothing to lend any credibility to the cause.
The real crime is the Bad Blanchard's and their tower scam, they are using the Pricetower to indoctrinate young boys into wearing girls panties and blackmailing them with videos and pictures. Stop the abuse of children! The Bartlesville Police will do nothing and even threaten the children who produce videos showing their abuse by Cynthia and Anthem Blanchard. Stop the criminal child sexual abuse. The Blanchard's have the County Judge's in their pocket. Blanchard's have threatened the VICTIMS with Judge Thomas and Judge Vaclaw saying that their judge's will jail anyone who complains. Don't bring your children to the price tower! Any adult who goes to the price tower should be avoided. Let us Stop the abuse of children and drive out these child predators from the community. Anthem and Cynthia Blanchard came to our community 5 years ago and have done nothing but exploit our children and lie to us stealing our money while all the time claiming they are ultra wealthy. Stop the madness. Let us vote out their special friends and restore family values to our City.
I hate to say this because I do not support public drag performances, but the video with additional footage looks manipulated. In fact, badly and obviously altered to add some sort of penis looking thing. Any type of fake does nothing to lend any credibility to the cause.