Beth Bourne, chair of the California chapter of Moms for Liberty, has gone viral across social media on Monday for a video confronting drag queens in the lobby of a Hawaiian hotel on Sunday.
Moms For Liberty, a "parental rights" nonprofit has gained national prominence since its founding in 2021, initially to oppose COVID-19 regulations in schools. Since then, Moms for Liberty has worked to elect right-wing school board candidates, oppose teachings about race in schools, curb the rights of LGBTQ+ students, and advocate for book bans. The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated Moms for Liberty an anti-government extremist group.
On Sunday, in a video first posted by Hawaii-area drag queen Marina del Rey to her Facebook profile, the woman, now identified as Bourne, began recording a video with her cell phone as she started berating drag queens that were in the lobby of the Alohilani Resort Waikiki Beach.
"We were attacked...she's still yelling," del Rey said, sharing the two-minute video on Facebook, which has garnered 21,000 views.
Newsweek has reached out to Moms for Liberty via email for comment.
In the video, Bourne took aim at the drag queens as she accused the hotel of failing to provide a safe environment for her son.
"I'm sorry, but this is—I paid to be a customer at a hotel where I thought you believed that women were real. That because you put on makeup, because you're wearing high heels, because you have a Barbie outfit on, that you don't think this is degrading? This is misogyny," Bourne said addressing the drag queens.
She added, addressing a hotel representative: "If you give me back my money right now, I will leave the hotel, but I'm not going to have my children come down from the 30th floor and see what's happening here."
However, Bourne continued to criticize the drag queens as she went up to one drag queen asking, "Are you in the hotel? Are you dressed up? Are you a man? Are you a man pretending to be a woman?"
The drag queen responds by saying they're not "pretending to be anything."
The clip has since made its way across social media on Monday including on X, formerly Twitter, where X user StrictlyChristo shared the video and condemned Bourne's actions.
"While on vacation in Hawaii, this Karen gets shaking mad when she sees a drag queen in the lobby for a Pride Celebration brunch. Most mainlander haoles are unaware that Mahu have been an integral and accepted part of Polynesian society for hundreds of years,"
The video has garnered over three million views on X.
— StrictlyChristo 🇺🇦🌻 (@StrictlyChristo) June 24, 2024While on vacation in Hawaii, this Karen gets shaking mad when she sees a drag queen in the lobby for a Pride Celebration brunch.
Most mainlander haoles are unaware that Mahu have been an integral and accepted part of Polynesian society for hundreds of years. pic.twitter.com/FvGcroXbGh
According to del Rey, the drag queens were on the hotel property to film a video for an upcoming pageant, playing roles as hotel staff in drag, adding that following the incident Bourne was escorted off the hotel premises and was briefly detained by local police.
However, in response, Bourne, who is a program director at University of California Davis' Institute of Transportation Studies, took to X to double down on her actions reposting the video as she said she is "not okay with children being exposed to drag queens."
"(here is the video of me taken by one of the drag queens). I am not okay with children being exposed to drag queens. Several other Alohilani hotel guests told me they also found it offensive so I spoke up to the manager yesterday. I was briefly detained by @honolulupolice, refunded my hotel charges, and have no regrets for speaking up. If we can be heard, this will end," Bourne wrote on X.
According to Bourne's X bio, she claims without evidence that "1/22 kids is trans" at UC Davis, adding that her views are "mine, not my employer."
In a statement emailed to Newsweek, UC Davis condemned Bourne's actions and statements, adding that they do not reflect the values of the campus as UC Davis is a place where members of the LGBTQ community should feel "seen and supported."
"We are aware of a widely circulated video in which a university employee makes a number of offensive statements. We condemn these statements as deeply hurtful. While the employee's comments are protected by the First Amendment, they do not reflect the values of respect and belonging that form the foundation of our campus community," James Nash, a UC Davis spokesperson said.
He added: "To the LGBTQ community, UC Davis is a place where you should feel seen and supported. June is when the nation celebrates Pride Month, and at UC Davis we're committed to making sure this community has every opportunity to thrive and flourish on our campus."
Meanwhile, del Rey said in a statement on Facebook that the video "stirred up strong emotions in many viewers," adding that she is not inciting hate against Bourne but rather reminding how others face worse.
"I'm not here to figure her out, incite hate against her, or call her names —— I'm here to remind you, many meet worse daily, the ugliness of this happens without regard to where, why, how etc....Even in the lobby of your hotel. Love more on those beside you. Love on those who are turned away by their own," del Rey said.
This is also not the first time Moms For Liberty has been at the forefront of controversy as it follows recent scandals, including co-founder Bridget Ziegler's admission of a three-way sexual encounter with her husband and a woman accusing him of rape.
However, in an emailed statement to Newsweek, national co-founders Tina Descovich and Tiffany Justice did not comment on Bourne's actions, the group said they will maintain their focus on membership growth in Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina and Wisconsin.
"Beth is a local moms for liberty organizer, not a national leader. The founders are only Tiffany Justice and Tina Descovich. You can contact Beth for a comment about her experience. What we are focused on is our 4 target states for membership growth in 2024, which include Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina and Wisconsin. That is where we have already invested $3 million and we are continuing to get more and more interest to support our membership growth in those target areas this year," Descovich and Justice said.
Update 06/25/24, 5:50 p.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from UC Davis and Moms for Liberty.
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