By: Paul Goldberg, Senior Editor | JRL CHARTS — LGBT Politics USA
VERO BEACH, FL — (July 24, 2025) — Florida’s Attorney General James Uthmeier has subpoenaed an LGBTQ-friendly restaurant over a Pride event it hosted last month, escalating tensions between Republican state officials and queer community organizers.
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The subpoena, delivered to Linda Moore, owner of the Kilted Mermaid restaurant and current Vice Mayor of Vero Beach, demands detailed records including guest lists, performer contracts, reservation logs, and surveillance video from the venue’s June LGBTQ Pride celebration. The event, advertised as all ages, allegedly featured “adult, sexualized performers in front of children,” according to a statement released by Uthmeier’s office.
Moore has until August 8, 2025, to comply.
“We took care to ensure the event was family-friendly,” Moore told local press. “Parents with small children were asked to leave before the drag performance began.”
While the Attorney General’s office claims a potential legal violation, it has yet to cite any specific statute in public statements or filings. Notably, Florida’s controversial Protection of Children Act — which seeks to prohibit minors from attending “adult live performances” including drag shows — was blocked by federal courts last year and remains unenforceable.
Background: Florida’s Drag Ban Standoff
Passed in 2023 and championed by then-Governor Ron DeSantis, the Protection of Children Act prohibits businesses from allowing minors to attend events deemed “adult performances.” The law was immediately challenged in court, and a federal judge issued an injunction citing First Amendment violations and vague legal language.
Despite its suspended enforcement, critics argue that Florida officials have continued to weaponize the law’s rhetoric to intimidate LGBTQ organizers, businesses, and performers. Uthmeier’s latest subpoena, opponents say, is part of a broader trend of state-level overreach as Florida gears up for the 2026 election cycle.
LGBTQ Advocates Push Back
LGBTQ rights groups including Equality Florida, GLAAD, and the Human Rights Campaign have denounced the subpoena as “a thinly veiled intimidation tactic,” with legal experts noting that demanding guest lists and surveillance footage raises serious civil liberties concerns.
“This feels like retaliation, not law enforcement,” said one civil rights attorney following the case. “You can’t enforce a law that’s blocked, and you can’t demand a guest list just because you don’t like who’s gathering.”
As of publication, the Attorney General’s office has not responded to multiple press inquiries requesting clarification on which laws the Kilted Mermaid may have violated.
With Florida’s drag restrictions legally suspended, Uthmeier’s aggressive tactics may signal a new phase in the cultural and political war over LGBTQ expression in public life — a war increasingly fought not in legislatures, but through subpoenas and scare tactics.
As the 2026 election cycle looms, JRL CHARTS will continue tracking how LGBTQ venues, Pride events, and civil liberties are targeted under the guise of “child protection” in Florida and beyond.
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