Amanda Hernández | (TNS) Stateline.org
In the past, drag performances were mainly seen in places like clubs and bars.
Now, drag shows are not only in nightlife venues but also at library events, family-friendly brunches, and there is more attention on gender-bending entertainment.
“Drag has become much more popular now compared to 15 years ago,” said Dr. Lady J, a performer from Cleveland. “It's mainstream. I remember when drag queens seemed mysterious and only existed in places like New York or San Francisco.”
The increased visibility of drag has led to conservative lawmakers in states like Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, and West Virginia proposing or passing laws to stop minors from attending drag shows. polls show Even though most Americans don't agree with laws restricting drag performances, legislators in some states have proposed regulations on businesses hosting drag shows or banning certain conduct at state universities.
Supporters of these bills say they aim to protect children from inappropriate entertainment rather than target the transgender community. However, critics warn that these laws could be used to discriminate against transgender individuals outside of drag performances. database(Some of these bills were carried over from last year's legislative sessions.)
Most of these bills have not been successful. Out of 15 drag bills considered last year, only three were carried over to this year.
In Montana, a law that restricted drag performances last year has been made unenforceable by federal court orders.
Courts have also ruled the laws in states like Texas unenforceable, deeming them unconstitutional and violating the First Amendment. Florida, Tennessee and TexasCourts have found similar laws about “adult cabaret entertainment” or “sexually oriented businesses” unenforceable as well.
There are also discussions about laws restricting gender-affirming care, transgender girls’ participation in school sports, and restroom access in many states.
Dr. Lady J believes that the focus on drag-related bills distracts people from the more pressing issues facing the LGBTQ+ community.
Dr. Lady J mentioned that the attention on drag-related bills deflects from the passage of anti-trans laws, which she sees as more critical.
Experts have noted that bills affecting drag performances, largely supported by GOP lawmakers, often emerge during election seasons to rally conservative voters.
According to Melissa Michelson, a political scientist and LGBTQ+ politics expert at Menlo College in California, some Republicans have been using drag as a way to energize their supporters and encourage them to donate money or vote for them.
Michelson also mentioned that the focus on drag-related legislation is likely to decrease after the election season. She believes it is more about stirring up the public and not about a real threat, being more of an electoral politics phenomenon.
According to Dr. Lady J, the efforts to regulate drag performances are not about safeguarding children but rather about removing LGBTQ+ visibility from public spaces. She is careful about her music and clothing choices when performing at events for kids, making sure they are appropriate and engaging for younger audiences.
She mentioned that many people simply do not want queer individuals around their children because they do not want them to see that it is possible to grow up, be happy, and be queer.
Those supporting the bills disagree, expressing concern about adult content becoming more prevalent in everyday life.
Kentucky Republican state Sen. Lindsey Tichenor stated that adult-oriented content is increasingly being advertised at family-friendly events, despite being of a sexual nature.
State legislative efforts
Tichenor has sponsored a bill aimed at performances with explicitly sexual conduct in adult-oriented businesses near places where children might be.
Her bill would restrict these businesses from operating within a certain distance of other establishments serving children. Violators could face penalties such as losing business or liquor licenses, and local governments could impose stricter regulations.
Tichenor mentioned that much of the opposition lacks information about the content of the legislation, emphasizing that it is simply about placing adult-oriented businesses in locations where minors cannot access them.
Initially, the bill included language that defined establishments hosting sexually explicit drag performances as adult-oriented businesses. However, Tichenor made adjustments after meeting with performers, and the current version no longer references all drag, focusing on adult cabaret with explicitly sexual conduct.
She emphasized the importance of having a specific definition for sexual drag performances and determining where they can and cannot take place.
This legislative session, only one related measure has been signed into law in South Dakota, prohibiting the use of state funds or property for obscene live conduct at public universities overseen by the state Board of Regents.
While the law doesn't directly forbid drag shows, some opponents think it's an attempt to target them because two similar bills, with one specifically banning drag, died earlier this year. explicitly banning drag, died earlier this year.
“It's kind of violating First Amendment rights –– free expression, freedom of speech,” said Everett Moran, a legislative intern with the Transformation Project Advocacy Network, a South Dakota-based trans advocacy group.
The bills come after controversy erupted in 2022 over a drag show held at South Dakota State University in Brookings that was advertised as kid-friendly. There was backlash, and the Board of Regents set a policy that prohibits programs on campus where minors are present from including specific sexual activities, obscene live conduct or any material meeting the definition of “harmful to minors.”
Proponents of the law said it reflects that policy.
“This [bill] complements [the board’s policy] and says, you know what, this is more than just a policy. This is a law. You broke a law,” Republican Rep. Chris Karr, the bill’s lead sponsor, told colleagues ahead of the bill’s vote in the House in early February. Karr could not be reached for comment for this story.
No one from the Board of Regents testified in favor of or against the bill, but when asked about how the new law would be enforced, the board said in a statement that it “does not currently authorize or expend public funds to support obscene live conduct, as defined in codified law 22-24-27, on any South Dakota public university campus.”
South Dakota state Rep. Linda Duba, a Democrat who voted against the measure, said the law will not affect the transgender community. Still, she said, the law is unnecessary and “purely political.”
“It’s an election year, and the [Republican] supermajority decided this would be something they thought we should do even though we have policies in place that make this bill unnecessary,” Duba said in an interview. “We’ve already defined in current statute what obscenity is, and we have a policy in place by the Board of Regents, and the bill doesn’t do anything different.”
A different time
In West Virginia, a bill introduced in January would have amended the state’s indecent exposure law to criminalize engaging in “obscene matter.” The bill’s definition of “obscene matter” includes “any transvestite and/or transgender exposure, performances, or display to any minor.”
The bill’s lead sponsor, Republican Sen. Mike Azinger, could not be reached for comment, and co-sponsor, Republican Sen. Robert Karnes, declined Stateline’s interview request. Before the state’s legislative session ended, the bill was sent to the Judiciary Committee.
In Missouri, a Senate and House bill would each add performances featuring male or female impersonations to the definition of sexually oriented businesses. Both bills are in committee. Under the bills, performers could potentially face felony charges for performing in public spaces where the show could be viewed by a child.
And in Nebraska, legislation that would restrict minors — defined by state law as anyone under 19 — from attending drag shows, seemed to pass away after the legislature’s Judiciary Committee voted against moving it forward. The suggested law would have enforced misdemeanor charges, with a maximum penalty of up to a $1,000 fine and one year in jail, on anyone — including parents — who takes a child to a drag event.
According to a 2023 NPR-PBS NewsHour-Marist survey, 58% of Americans are against laws that would place limitations on drag shows or performances in their state, while 39% are in favor of such legislation.
Even though Americans have different views, these drag-related bills have emerged at a time when drag has become a popular form of entertainment, said Michelson, the political scientist and LGBTQ+ politics expert. This varies from past attacks on LGBTQ+ community members, who were targeted during a time of widespread stigma, Michelson added.
“These bans are not likely to be very successful or popular as some may hope they will be. It’s kind of too late,” Michelson said. “If they had targeted drag performers a decade ago, 15 years ago, it probably would have been more successful.”
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