TX lawmaker who accused drag shows of 'grooming' kids faces complaint of 'inappropriate relationship' with young intern

Bryan Slaton

In June of last year, Texas state rep Bryan Slaton said that all-age drag shows "sexualize" children. He even threatened to sponsor legislation which would ban children from attending drag shows.  Less than a year later,  he now faces accusations of an "inappropriate relationship" with an intern under 21-years-old.

According to Vice:

Texas state Rep. Bryan Slaton has reportedly had a complaint filed against him with the Texas state legislature that claims he had an “inappropriate relationship” with an intern. A complaint filed with the House General Investigating Committee by a legislative staffer and obtained by the Texas Tribune, as well as a Tribune source with direct knowledge of the incident, said that Stanton called the intern, who is under age 21, after 10 p.m. on Friday, March 31, and invited her to his apartment, where he served her alcohol. According to allegations in the complaint obtained by the Tribune, Slaton later showed that intern fake emails that claimed to have information about the incident in an apparent loyalty test, and told her not to tell anyone about the incident.

Slaton's attorney denied the charges but according to the Texas Tribune, this is not going away anytime soon. Two lawmakers are already demanding his resignation:

Two state lawmakers have called for the resignation of Rep. Bryan Slaton, R-Royse City, after The Texas Tribune reported that he is being investigated following allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a Capitol intern. 

 “The past few days in the Texas House, screams of everything that’s wrong with a small segment of its elected officials. Unfortunately calling the behavior of [Slaton] ‘inappropriate’ is a gross understatement,” state Rep. Steve Toth, R-The Woodlands, wrote on social media Tuesday morning. “He needs to resign.” 

 The resignation calls have come as Slaton has remained silent about the allegations beyond an initial statement from his lawyer decrying unspecified "outrageous claims." His usual political allies have also stayed quiet about the situation. Meanwhile, the intern has retained a lawyer, Julie Springer in Austin, who specializes in employment law. Springer confirmed Tuesday she was representing the intern but declined to comment further.

Vice took the time to remind folks just how extensively Slaton attacked drag shows for supposedly "sexualizing" kids:

Slaton, who is 45 years old, has spent more than a year denouncing all-ages drag performances, and last month he introduced a bill to ban drag shows from having kids in attendance. “In the wake of these erotic drag performances sweeping our state, I committed last year to filing legislation that would stop this disgusting practice in the presence of children,” he said in a statement announcing the bill. 

 “The State has a duty to protect kids from being sexually exploited, and HB 4129 is the most comprehensive bill to stop the sexualization of kids by these performances,” he continued.

Slaton has previously blasted an all-ages drag show as a “grooming event.”

 “This is just going to the grooming, the sexualization of our children,” he said last summer. “This comes down to decency, morality and ethics, and children should not be the object of your sexualization, your desires.”

If this situation turns out to be as bad as it sounds, it simply shows that drag queens are so popular that even karma has their back.