Taco Bell promotes LGBT advocacy in drag queen shows at its restaurants
By Sean Salai
Taco Bell is offering professional crossdressers along with a new $5 Bell Breakfast Box, Cinnabon Delights coffee and mimosas in a five-city “Drag Brunch Tour” that promotes mental health for LGBT youths.
The company says the brunches, which started Sunday at its Las Vegas Cantina, will feature drag queens and drag kings performing lip-sync routines on stage at the Mexican fast-food restaurants.
“We understand the importance of creating safe spaces for the LGBTQIA+ community and are thrilled to provide a unique experience that spotlights and celebrates the wonderful art form of drag and its influence in culture with their chosen families,” Sean Tresvant, Taco Bell’s global chief brand officer, said in a statement.
Taco Bell follows several big U.S. corporations such as The Walt Disney Co. that have recently promoted LGBT and transgender rights. It remains to be seen, however, whether the “woke” initiatives will appeal to consumers.
“Conservative populism is on the rise around the globe, so adopting left-leaning views or policies is risky for business,” Allen Mendenhall, associate dean of the business school at Troy University in Alabama, told The Washington Times in an email.
“For every Starbucks or Ben & Jerry’s, there’s a Chick-fil-A or Hobby Lobby,” he said.
The drag show was the brainchild of more than 100 LGBT workers that make up its Live Mas Pride Employee Resource Group, according to the company.
Taco Bell’s “Drag Brunch Tour” will head next to Chicago, Nashville, New York City and Fort Lauderdale before wrapping up in June. It is open to members of the public who are older than 18.
Drag queen and “taco extraordinaire” Kay Sedia, the tour’s host, was joined in Las Vegas by three local men who perform professionally dressed as women: Anetra, Mirage Amuro and Coco Montrese.
The nation’s leading Mexican fast-food chain first announced on April 25 that it was “rolling out the purple carpet” for the new “immersive fan experience.”
As part of the tour, Taco Bell has given an unspecified financial grant to the It Gets Better Project and is promoting donations to the LGBT youth advocacy group at each brunch event.
Brian Wenke, executive director of the It Gets Better Project, said in a statement that the President Biden-endorsed nonprofit is “beyond excited to partner with Taco Bell” on the initiative “to engage LGBTQ+ youth around their career aspirations and future potential.”
• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.
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