MERCURY ON STRIKE

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A student is being cuffed by a campus police officer as a drag performer stands in the background.
Economics freshman Kyle Randle being detained by campus police as a drag performer prepares to continue the show.

Originally Posted October 13th.

A student was temporarily detained after interrupting a post-sermon drag show in the SU green on the night of Sept.12.

Economics freshman Kyle Randle was taken off-site by UTD PD after disrupting a sermon and drag show hosted by the Synergy Wesley Foundation. Halfway through the performance, Randle began shouting that the event was “not Christ-like.” In response, the crowd booed Randle as “Move B*tch” played on the speakers, and organizers tried to prevent further conflict. Isaac Simmons–who performs as Ms. Penny Cost and is a candidate for ordained ministry in the United Methodist Church–then performed “You Can’t Pray The Gay Away.” After further discussion with Galerstein Gender Center Director Matthew Winser-Johns and a responding police officer, Randle was detained on-site away from the event. The show continued without further incident.

Simmons is the first drag queen and gay individual to be certified as a candidate for ordained ministry in the United Methodist Church and was invited to preach at UTD to celebrate National Coming Out Week. At Wesley’s event, Simmons delivered a sermon about the androgyny of the biblical figure Joseph and how people should not be afraid to speak up against injustice. Afterward, Simmons said that they hoped to show that anyone should be able to preach.
“I come and I preach to be like, the pulpit belongs to all people,” Simmons said. “And if a drag queen can be in it then anyone can be in it. So that’s why I’m here.”

Pictured is Isaac Simmons in drag as Ms. Penny Cost. They are wearing a shiny dress with scales and a pink/purple wig.

Isaac Simmons

Sebyul Baik, a literature senior and vice president of the Synergy Wesley Foundation, said that the group had concerns about the show because of recent protests at drag events. In addition, Simmons had received negative press online, as they were featured on conservative podcaster Matt Walsh’s show on Oct. 11. Walsh criticized the presence of drag queens in Christian services, shared one of Simmons’ performances of slam poetry and referred to their ideas as “cheap blasphemy” and “heretical nonsense.” Wesley had originally planned to hold the drag show at Northside but moved it last minute due to safety concerns.

“The Matt Walsh show, they have a lot of listeners, and that happening the day before our event,” Baik said. “We were really worried about the possible negative press of the name being more recognizable. And we already weren’t really advertising the event online, but just to be extra safe, we decided to move it farther inwards toward campus to SU green. The last-second change was only made possible because of support from the Gender Center.”

Baik said that while organizers were nervous at the start of the event, they became more comfortable until the end of the show, when Randle’s interruption began. Baik said that they tried to guide the audience’s attention away from Randle and keep the event moving.

“From the leadership perspective of things, I think that we handled it really well, and I was really surprised at how well our whole team dealt with things,” Baik said. “We tried really hard to redirect the energy from being super angry or from engaging with him much. We tried not to let people yell back too much, we tried to keep the mood light, kept going on with the show. Chanted, did fun things, kept cheering.”

Randle and other students came to watch the event after hearing Christian music. After listening to the sermon and seeing the subsequent drag show, Randle walked to where the performers were preparing to dance and spoke to the crowd.

“I go in the middle of the event and I say, ‘This is not Christ-like,’” Randle said. “‘This is disordered, perverted, it’s not right what’s going on here, especially combining it with perverted readings of the Bible.” 

Winser-John said that he took Randle aside in order to prevent either crowd members or Randle from getting hurt and to stop any potential conflict. Once he realized what Randle’s opinions were of the event, Winser-John said he continued to try to defuse the situation so the event could continue without interruption.

“My efforts to defuse the situation were not being respected or honored,” Winser-John said. “And campus police were called by somebody, not myself, but I did ask the student protester several times ‘I don’t want you to be detained, I don’t want that for you.’ He was asking me and everyone around him to be detained, which I told him I did not want to happen. I felt like this could be solved in a better manner than that.”

After campus police arrived, officers continued to talk with Randle alongside Winser-John, but ultimately detained him away from the main event area. After the event, ODEI Communications Manager Alexandra Pirkle said that while students are entitled to their opinions, there is a line between behavior that is acceptable and behavior that is not.

“When it crosses that line into causing harm, that’s when intervention is required,” Pirkle said. “When the opinions exist on their own, that’s a totally separate story. But it’s when that line is crossed into being, in a way, inflicted on another person, that’s when action needs to be taken, in our view.”

Simmons and the other XAI drag performers finished the show after the interruption, and Simmons said they danced to show that they were ultimately unaffected.

“There’s nothing people say that is new,” Simmons said. “Queer folks have heard it all. It’s the air we breathe, the society we live in. So, what better way to celebrate, then, by dancing? In the queer community, there’s such an emphasis on dancing, on enjoyment and on just pure joy. And so that’s the heart of drag for me, and that’s what I hope to do in churches. And that’s what we’re doing with the protesters here. No matter what anyone says, we’re gonna be ourselves and we’re gonna have fun while doing it too. I believe that the divine is a being that is joy-filled and loves to dance, so why not emulate that?”

  • Shameful that a student has the gall to disrupt this event. We have a long way to go to root out queerphobia in society, and strong action absolutely needs to be taken against this student and the people that came with him. This can never be acceptable.

    • Go cry me a river. This is not about “queer phobia” but about the perversion of scripture done by people who aren’t even Christian. Kyle did nothing wrong and was defending the word of God.

    • We need more students to do this. You predators need to be rooted out. The only chance this country has for survival if to return to God and live moral lives, not ones of degenerecy. VIVA CRISTO REY!

    • Queerphobia? He didn’t seem scared to me. What’s shameful is that our society actually supports this. Good for him standing up to it.

    • Be quiet you cringe modernist. Blaspheming scripture and perverting the faithful with sexual fetishes is the wrong example to set for students. No serious person cares about your made-up “queer” social engineering filth. If you people cared about the souls and well-being of others, you would start thinking with your head instead of your fetishes.

    • Whats shameful is that this individual in drag is being seriously considered for ministry. Its no wonder the mainline Protestant church is collapsing; they have forsaken Christ for the spirit of the age.

    • “Queerphobia” yet he is going up directly to the crowd full of LGBT people. Seems like he isn’t scared at all tbh. If anything, the crowd seemed pretty scared considering they called the police on one guy. I was there and the event continued even though Kyle was up there protesting, so the excuse of saying he was disrupting the event (and using that as a just reason to arrest him) barely holds value because the event continued anyway. So now, I can either pull the phobia card and call the people at the event “straightphobic,” or I could just say that they got their feelings hurt so they decided to call the cops. Keep in mind that when Comets for the Preborn was doing a fundraiser and showing pictures of fetuses, the protesters intentionally blocked the pictures, which is definitely more of a disruption compared to one guy going up to a crowd of people. And guess what, no cops were called over that.

  • If someone tried to run an actual Christian event on campus mobs would hound the organizers down and destroy the event. Stand your ground, speak up, and don’t allow God to be mocked.
    God bless this man. Tolerance is not a Christian virtue.

    • If your religion has no tolerance, it has no reason to exist. It’s a cult then. You are no better than the demons you are so afraid of.

      • A religion that tolerates and affirms everything has zero convictions. Either you stand up for something objective, something greater than himself or you don’t. Man needs morals to restrain his passions and purify his virtues, otherwise, he perverts and corrupts everything around him, including himself.

    • christian orgs run events on this campus without “mobs” all the time weirdo. stop playing victim snowflake

      • Oh, I am sure they are allowed to go around and sell chocolate or do small charity events that wouldn’t offend any of your sensitivities. The second we get into the parts of Christianity that have to do with the status of your soul and the morality of your actions however, and I am more than sure it would illicit a very different reaction from people, and people like you would be leading the charge. The only Christianity you tolerate is silent, perverted, and docile.
        You will scream bloody murder the second it lifts a finger to the tune of anything different.

        • Were you on campus when they had gore posters out on display? I screamed bloody murder. And then I hounded!

        • You are pulling out all these hypotheticals that haven’t happened. Kyle literally screamed and complained at this event. The only reason why you think people on campus would behave in this way is because that’s how YOU behave when you see something you disagree with. Stop projecting snowflake.

      • Lmao yeah the second a Christian event is held that discusses any narrative that calls the morality of the many degeneracies of society into question it will be boycotted. People can’t even get speakers on campus’ that go against the grain without crybaby snowflakes having a mental breakdown. But it’s okay to protest and shout then right?

  • The only thing shameful about this is that there weren’t MORE people protesting. The LGBT Mafia is satanically motivated and needs curbed at every opportunity. Repent and convert because Christ is King. He won’t be mocked.

  • Perversity is not diversity.

    Traditional Values are Texas Values.

    Christ is King, and his mother crush the head of the serpent!

    • Funny you should say that ‘Traditional Values are Texas Values’ and that Christ is king when Texas is in fact a secular republic (godless, kingless!). Ever read the whole Texas constitution? Didn’t think so.

      • Did you read the part where most Texans are Christian? Or the part where I don’t care because secularism is garbage?

  • I think his last statement about dancing and joy is interesting. Cross dressing and euphoric dancing was a key part of ishtar worship in Babylon… do with that information what you will.

  • God Bless Kyle. We must not let Evil take root. And there is no other word for what this is but Evil, pure, unfettered, perverted, evil.

  • God bless Kyle Randle, and may these perversions of God be finished one glorious day. I pray those involved find the true God and come to repentance and peace.

    Ave Christus Rex!

  • It would do Randie well to read the bible sometime. If he did he’d find the testaments of Christ are far and away some of the plainest examples of queercoding in existence; he had over a crew of over a dozen men and all his teachings were about throwing out the old rules and loving one another instead. Man was a queer icon.

    • “Uhm actually I figured it out guys the bible is totally like the da vinci code but it’s actually secret gay code. Now let me cherry pick a couple verses out of context and comically try to rationalize them in contradiction.” I think everyone is now dumber for having read what you posted. Please stop.

  • Props to the young Christian man for standing up to these woke bullies. We need more Kyles!

  • I occupied the stage because they altered the story of Joseph among other stories in Bible and attempted to appropriate Christian symbolism for their perverted agenda. Crossdressing, putting on demonic costumes, and celebrating sodomy is not in any way Christian.

    As a society, if we continue to tolerate this, we will be led right off of a cliff. This queer ideology causes its followers to become ugly and weak. It’s not good and I don’t want that for anyone, especially not on campus. The first step to solving any problem is to make it clear that there’s a problem. Acceptance is not a virtue, tolerance is not a virtue, love is firm and needs to be tough sometimes. Don’t sin through silence or counsel, if something is wrong, say it’s wrong.

  • crazy how all these losers supporting the guy here all talk the exact same way, in every way (grammar, sentence/paragraph/tear-fueled rant structure, etc). almost like they are all the same person. homie couldn’t find himself an echo chamber that would accept him so he made his own lmfao

  • Not only was Kyle Randle in the right and should be commended for standing up for the truth—and frankly, sanity—but he was also morally obligated to do so. The same goes for anyone in attendance who espouses a geniune belief in God or even those who simply acknowledge the reality of natural law, something that is recognized by billions of people on planet earth.

    What UTD was promoting at that event was quite literally a crime against nature, not to mention a capital offense against God. For anyone to support, let alone exhibit, such heinous degeneracy under the guise of anything even remotely Christian is outrageously evil.

    Everyone involved in this filth, including the campus police, UTD and the United Methodist Church, should be profoundly ashamed and deliver to Mr. Randle an extensive and very public apology. Although I’m willing to bet that any organization with a Gender Center couldn’t define the word shame.

    This disgusting conduct is not who we are.

    • Kyle I know this is you writing about yourself! If you want an apology, contact the university instead of whining in comment sections!

    • This conduct IS who we are. We are gay. We are transgender. We came together in a space to worship because people like you harmed and shamed us out of churches. We support our community. YOU and your band of rage and attempted assault are not who we are. UTD is stronger with it’s LGBTQ+ students, and I will be actively advocating for UTD to EXPEL Kyle Randle, not apologize. There is nothing to apologize for. Staff had to stand between him and audience members he was storming towards, at one point he raised his fist at said staff member, an occurrence that was caught on camera. Police would have been justified in taking him to the station. Just because you are ashamed of yourself does not justify poisoning others with it. Maybe Catholics are big fans of shame, but we have the freedom to listen to teachings on a religion of love and kindness.

    • I love everyone, but hate sin. The Christian argument is to love the sinner, hate the sin. Repent of sexual degeneracy.

  • Leave it to these cowards to only blasphem Christianity. I wonder how would campus react if the same insult was shown in a muslim or jewish prayer group.

    • Actually, teachings from an LGBTQ+ Rabbi were used in the sermon. So feel free to try that one again… though it seems the lot of you already can’t stop talking.

  • These events should not happen at all, they are meeting of Satan worshippers. They must recognize that God is the Most Blessed Sacrament. Christ is King!

  • Very frustrating situation. I hope proper consequences are taken against the instigator here; as an attendee, I saw firsthand how this went far past “freedom of speech” and into “attempted assault.” UTD must do better in protecting its LGBTQ+ students and staff.

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