GOP-led state Legislatures want to criminalize drag shows

Introducing a sexual dimension into drag shows: Are drag shows a prurient form? The case against a proposal that criminalizes drag performances in public spaces

Wendy Williams has owned her bar, Club Temptation, in Cookeville, Tenn., for six years. Drag performances are held there regularly, such as drag brunches and bingo. Williams does drag.

The measure refers to drag shows as “adult cabaret” that “appeal to a prurient nature.” The drag shows at Nashville business owner David Taylor’s club aren’t sexually explicit.

Williams’ bar does not allow entry to children so a child would not be able to see any of the shows that the establishment puts on. But given the bill’s wording, she is starting to wonder whether her bar will have to be re-categorized as, essentially, a strip club.

State legislators across the U.S are following Tennessee’s lead in working on a proposal of their own. For example, North Dakota recently advanced a bill that would criminalize performing drag in front of minors or in public spaces.

Lesbian and gay people say the bills under consideration add to the issue of attacks on drag shows and other such shows since they often feature bawdier content.

Drag has been an important part of the queer culture. “Trans drag performers who were like pioneers and us getting … any type of queer rights, like at all.”

The Most Anti-Transgender Legislation Seems Like Innocent: At Least 10, State Legislators Try to Criminalize Drag Shows

He said the legislation threatens businesses, libraries, performers and the people they serve by giving politicians power to decide what’s appropriate. “To be honest, we expect these to sail through many legislatures.”

“This year, we are seeing the most, by far, pieces of anti-transgender legislation that we’ve ever seen in a single year,” Erin Reed, an independent legislative researcher and activist, said.

Drag bans, a subset of these kinds of bills, are essentially lawmakers’ answer to drag queen story hours, Reed said. Drag queens are reading books to kids around the country. They have become a subject of vitriol for the far-right, with some events becoming targets for opponents.

In Cookeville, where Williams is from, a group of far-right protesters have demonstrated in front of drag shows. Recently, this happened at an 18-and-up drag brunch in town, where protestors held up a Nazi flag and yelled from across the street of the event.

He said the children witnessing drag shows were a slippery slope to the legalization of pedophilia.

Shakespearean productions could be in violation of the law if they are categorized under this categorization.

“What they deem appropriate that day is up to the discretion of the officials to decide whether it runs afoul of whatever they think is ‘decent,'” he said.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/02/08/1151731736/at-least-10-state-legislatures-trying-restrict-criminalize-drag-shows

Changing Senate Bill 43 to tackle drag shows: South Carolina Rep. Thomas Beach says it is ok for the Pageant to continue in Little Rock

South Carolina state Rep. Thomas Beach told NPR that the language in his earlier version of his state’s bill was admittedly too broad. Changes to the policy are something he plans to do, which he believes will help fellow Republicans who are worried about business impacts. Beach said there is strong support.

bipartisan criticism of the bill’s breadth caused Arkansas lawmakers to change their proposal. Those changes effectively gutted the bill of language specifically targeting drag shows, the ACLU of Arkansas said.

A deal to have the Miss Gay America Pageant continue its national event at Little Rock’s Robinson Center fell apart last month, shortly after SB43 dropped. That’s according to Michael Dutzer, the CEO and executive producer of Mad Angel Entertainment, which owns the pageant.

With some threats and derogatory statements sent to the organization, and uncertainty about the current state of Senate Bill 43, he said, it doesn’t make sense for the pageant to continue in Little Rock.

Dutzer said it would be a loss for Arkansas. The event brought thousands of people who filled local hotels, visited local sites and bought from restaurants. The production spent a lot of money to stage the event.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/02/08/1151731736/at-least-10-state-legislatures-trying-restrict-criminalize-drag-shows

The future of the bar is in trouble: Bill Lee’s sexualized entertainment in Tennessee isn’t okay when straight men dress up badly in drag

“You don’t know what’s going to happen. Is it worth continuing running a bar after six years? Is it better that I just put the bar up for sale and do something else? “Not because I am frightened, but is it worth the hassle of dealing with it?” she asked. I don’t know if it is worth it to tell you the truth.

In recent days, Lee has been accused of hypocrisy after an unidentified Reddit user posted a photo from a 1977 high school yearbook, which purports to show the future governor dressed in women’s clothing and a wig alongside female students dressed in men’s suits.

Lee ignored a question about whether he had once dressed in drag, but refused to compare the drag show legislation to his purported image.

Lee said the question is ridiculous because it is sexualized entertainment in front of children.

A spokesperson for Lee further elaborated to the Daily Beast, saying, “The bill specifically protects children from obscene, sexualized entertainment, and any attempt to conflate this serious issue with lighthearted school traditions is dishonest and disrespectful to Tennessee families.”

Lee gave his signature just hours after the measure passed in the Senate Thursday afternoon. In the same sitting, he signed a ban on gender-affirming health care for youth in the state.

It’s absurd that Bill Lee said that it was lighthearted when he did it. “Apparently when straight men dress up badly in drag, that’s OK. But when gay and queer and trans people do it, that’s not OK.”

The Nashville drag ban ban and how it’s affecting kids and families in the fall/winter of 2017, with a discussion by Jack Johnson

The bill was co-sponsored by Jack Johnson. He says, “We’re protecting kids and families and parents who want to be able to take their kids to public places. We’re not attacking anyone or targeting anyone.”

The ban could also have a chilling effect on Pride festivals. In the summer time, outdoor drag is a staple in Tennessee. While new laws typically go into effect on July 1, the bill was quietly amended in January to take effect April 1 — ahead of Pride month in June.

Tennessee Tech student Cadence Miller says his generation of queer people owe a lot to drag queens, and that it’s no accident they’re under threat now.

“However, we are worried that the law could easily be used to censor people based on their own subjective views of what they think is appropriate.”

Taylor thinks the drag ban will hurt Nashville’s economy. Drag brunches in the city’s bars are filled with bachelorette parties, and Music City’s infamous fleet of party vehicles includes a drag queen-specific bus.

The statehouse has taken back the rights of trans people for three years in a row. It has many trans people and families of trans kids wondering whether staying in the state is worth the fight.

The area is home to a lot of the people who grew up here. drag performer Hella Skeleton says, “It is brutal to be faced with a choice of either staying or leaving something that you have invested in and created.” “It’s a really tough choice, that is for sure.”