DAVIS, Calif. — The University of California, Davis has issued a statement after a video of an employee yelling about drag performers in a Hawaii hotel lobby went viral.
In a video recorded Sunday and posted to Facebook by a performer, Beth Bourne — who is also the Moms for Liberty Yolo County chair — is visibly upset and shouting her disapproval of drag queens filming a commercial a Waikiki hotel. Bourne tells hotel staff she’ll leave if they refund her immediately.
The video prompted a response from Hawaii Governor Josh Green, who told HawaiiNewsNow he was, “proud of the performers from Hawai’i’s LGBTQIA community who maintained their dignity and integrity in the face of such a hostile attack.”
Bourne later shared a video on X (formerly Twitter) Tuesday morning of her interaction with Honolulu police officers and called out Green for defending the drag performers, writing, "@GovJoshGreenMD (Democrat) came to the defense of the drag queens and not to parents like me who find drag inappropriate for children and offensive to women."
A Change.org petition calling for her firing collected more than 1,000 signatures as of Wednesday evening. However, discipline is unlikely, according to Sacramento employment rights lawyer George Allen.
"The reason is the first amendment," Allen said. "Her tirade and Hawaii doesn't have anything to do with the university or her employment. And so the courts are going to take a very cautious approach to allowing the government, UC Davis, to punish her for speaking her opinion."
UC Davis also issued a statement Tuesday condemning Bourne’s comments without specifically naming her, saying, in part:
“We are aware of a widely circulated video in which a university employee makes a number of offensive statements. We condemn these statements as deeply hurtful. While the employee’s comments are protected by the First Amendment, they do not reflect the values of respect and belonging that form the foundation of our campus community.
To the LGBTQ community, UC Davis is a place where you should feel seen and supported. June is when the nation celebrates Pride Month, and at UC Davis we’re committed to making sure this community has every opportunity to thrive and flourish on our campus.”
Bourne responded to the university’s statement on X Tuesday afternoon saying she was speaking as a private citizen and that it did not mention her comments were made outside of the scope of her work.
"Weird the university's statement did not mention my comments were not made while I was at work or involve university faculty, staff or students," Bourne wrote.
The UC Davis website lists Bourne as a program manager for the university's Institute of Transportation Studies.
Bourne is the Yolo County chair for the Moms for Liberty group which was at the center of a lawsuit against Yolo County officials earlier this year.
It started in August 2023 at the Mary L. Stephens Library in Davis. Moms for Liberty sued the county after a librarian asked the group to leave their planned event discussing transgender women and girls participating in female sports.
The group reached a settlement in May, resulting in the library changing policies, agreeing to pay them damages and attorney fees and allowing them to make up the event. The group considered it a win for First Amendment rights.
