NEW YORK — ABC’s television show “Good Morning America” recently featured an 11-year-old “drag kid,” applauding the child as “inspiring” and with an “amazing story.” Some viewers are disappointed with the show’s endorsement and have expressed concern about the ramifications of allowing little boys to dress like girls for fun.
Desmond Napoles, who goes by the stage name “Desmond Is Amazing,” strutted his way onto the set of the broadcast, co-hosted by Michael Strahan and Sara Haines. He wore a yellow dress with a white fur coat, along with a long wig and makeup, and laid down on the floor at the conclusion of his flamboyant entrance, being met with cheers and laughter.
Napoles’ parents, Andrew and Wendy Napoles, sat in the audience, smiling on at their son. Strahan asked Napoles about his family and their backing.
“They support me by letting me do what I want to do,” the boy said, “and letting me dress up and play with make up and trains.”
“It really touches me deeply that there are other children out there that he’s reaching and they’re listening to him, and he’s influencing them to be themselves,” Napoles’ mother said in a video aired at the beginning of the segment.
“I’m very proud of him,” his father added. “I’m proud that he’s found his path so early.”
Haines brought out three adult “drag queens”—known as Hedda Lettuce, Shannel, and Alyssa Edwards—during the interview and seated them next to Napoles. When asked to share their thoughts on the child’s drag pursuits, Shannel remarked that Napoles is “inspirational.”
“I started doing drag when I was fifteen years old … and I wish at that age that I could have had the courage that you have to do what you do and literally take the art and put it in mainstream America,” he said. “It’s beautiful.”
A crew member soon rolled out a cart of gifts for Napoles from the drag queens, which included various cosmetics and a makeup tutorial DVD. Edwards also invited Napoles to come to his studio for dance lessons.
“Thank you for reminding us all to be who were are on the inside,” Haines said.
According to a website for Napoles, the child’s parents previously took him to a therapist and were advised “to allow Desmond to develop naturally.”
“Therefore, rather than ostracize, punish, or shame him, force him to play with certain toys, or restrict him to boys only costumes and clothing while playing dress up, Desmond’s parents allowed him to inherently progress, explore, and choose his tastes in clothing, toys, and activities on his own,” the site states.
“He had developed his gender identity as non-conforming, or gender fluid, as a young child,” it outlines. “He is not, nor has the desire to become, transgender. From early on, he has said that he is a boy who enjoys dressing up as a girl.”
However, it says that “[a]round first grade, Desmond began having normal childhood crushes, not on girls, but on other boys.”
“To Desmond, being gay means that he is certain that he would like to have a boyfriend someday, not a girlfriend,” the site states. “As he gets older, he has been increasingly adamant about his choice and identity. He feels less different after meeting and speaking with other boys his age who also feel that they are gay.”
While those in the audience at the “Good Morning America” broadcast cheered the boy, some viewers expressed concern about the child’s well-being.
“It seems horribly inappropriate to be parading around a young child as though he/she is a spectacle. And then to have adults who are drag queens giving him advice and gifts to promote his dressing up in drag. Something doesn’t feel right about that,” one commenter wrote.
“Quite saddened for this young man’s future. I’m afraid the trail he is blazing is toward a cliff of self-destructive morals, guided by people who have been brainwashed that whatever makes someone feel good should be supported,” another said. “Such deception. God help them to find truth!”
Scripture states in Deuteronomy 22:5, “The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment.” The Geneva Study Bible adds in its commentary, “For that alters the order of nature, and shows that you despise God.”
As previously reported, the Bible teaches that all men are born with the Adamic sin nature, and have various inherent inclinations that are contrary to the law of God, being utterly incapable of changing themselves. It is why Jesus outlined in John 3:5-7 that men must be regenerated by the second birth, or they cannot see the kingdom of Heaven.
“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God,” he declared. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”
“Bitter experience teaches that the imprisoning net clings too tightly to be stripped from our limbs by our own efforts. Nay rather, the net and the captive are one, and he who tries to cast off the oppression which hinders him from following that which is good is trying to cast off himself,” also wrote the late preacher and Bible commentator Alexander Maclaren.
“But to men writhing in the grip of a sinful past, or paralyzed beyond writhing and indifferent, because [they are] hopeless, or because they have come to like their captivity, comes one whose name is ‘The Breaker,’ whose mission it is to proclaim liberty to the captives, and whose hand laid on the cords that bind a soul, causes them to drop harmless from the limbs and sets the bondsman free.”