Oregon pub faces backlash as it hosts drag show featuring 11-year-old performer

The event, which was billed by the pub as "fun and innocent," featured an 11-year-old performer whose former "drag mom" was revealed to be in jail after being accused of child sex offenses.

According to The Register Guard, protestors and supporters of the pub arrived on the scene around 10 am. During the ensuing clash, both sides were seen with guns, however, only rocks and smoke grenades were hurled at one another.

Protestors ranged from those who wanted children out of the drag scene altogether to those who said being interested is ok, but actually performing went too far.

"They’re putting children on stage," one woman who fell into the later category argued, "and grown men and women can go there, and you don’t know what kind of fetish or things they have in their mind are."

Inside the pub, the show went on as planned, with 11-year-old "Vanellope" taking the stage as adults cheered.

In the days leading up to the event, Vanellope and one of her former drag moms were the focal points of the controversy. An investigation by The Post Millennial's Andy Ngo revealed that Kelsey M. Boren was recently charged with child sex abuse offenses, and is currently in prison awaiting trial.

"Kelsey M. Boren, who uses the stage name 'Alwaiz Craving,' was arrested in Lane County and charged with twelve felonies related to making and distributing child porn," Ngo reported. "Prosecutors found the 32-year-old such a danger to the public that they successfully petitioned the judge to deny her bail. She allegedly told detectives that her need for child porn was like an 'uncontrollable itch that she couldn't stop.'"

According to Ngo, multiple social media photos showed that Boren had been mentoring Vanellope since she was at least seven years old. Vanellope even went so far as adopting the name "Craving" into her own drag persona.

Vanellope's family wrote in a statement that while she and Boren had worked together, they had "severed all ties" prior to her arrest, and thus the former drag mom "has absolutely nothing to do with the [event]."

Despite the ensuing wave of pushback, Old Nick's insisted that the show must go on, doubling down on their promotion of the event.

On Monday, a GoFundMe was set up to help the pub pay for added security for future drag events. It has since raised over $2,000.