It would be a loss for Arkansas, Dutzer said. Technically, that violated the proposed bill as it was written, Dutzer said.Įven now, he said, with some threats and derogatory statements sent to the organization, as well as lingering uncertainty about the current state of SB43, it doesn't seem possible for the pageant to continue in Little Rock. The event involves singing, dancing and lip-syncing, among other performances. Participants attend the Nashville Pride parade on Jin Nashville, Tennessee.ĭutzer said the legislation at the time made it really unclear whether the event - not officially a drag show, but dubbed as a pageant for "female impersonators" - would violate the law. The legislation would have required locations that host drag shows to be classified in the same way strip clubs and adult entertainment theaters are. Last month, the state senate approved sweeping legislation restricting where drag shows could be performed. The trajectory of Arkansas' proposed drag ban is a prime example of broad language backfiring on Republican legislators. But he plans to make to changes to the policy, which he believes will make it more palatable for fellow Republicans concerned about impacts on business.
Thomas Beach told NPR that the language in his earlier version of his state's bill was admittedly too broad. "What they deem appropriate that day is totally up to the discretion of the officials to decide whether this runs afoul of whatever they think is 'decent,'" Sykes said. He, as well as others, noted that under this categorization, Shakespearean productions - for example, As You Like It (which involves a cross-dressing heroine) - could be in violation of the law. Other state proposals have language that defines a drag performer as one who "exhibits a gender identity that is different than the performer's gender assigned at birth." That definition's broadness leaves theater shows or even female comedians dressed in pants at risk of violating these laws, Sykes said. This would require businesses to get specific permits and to pay fees in order to stay open in some cases, he said. Restaurants, bars and nightclubs that host drag shows, like Williams' Club Temptation, would have to be recategorized as sexually oriented enterprises under many of these legislative proposals, ACLU attorney Sykes said. Until recently, the Arkansas House was considering a bill to restrict where drag shows can be performed. 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.Ī pride-themed rainbow flag flies over the steps of the Arkansas State Capitol in Little Rock. In Cookeville, where Williams is from, a group of far-right protesters have demonstrated in front of drag shows. They have become a subject of vitriol for the far-right, with some events becoming targets for opponents.
The events, during which a drag queen reads books to kids, have popped up around the country. However, only 29 became law - indicating strong pushback against some of these restrictions, even in Republican-led state governments, according to the Human Rights Campaign.ĭrag bans, a subset of these kinds of bills, are essentially lawmakers' answer to drag queen story hours, Reed said. Last year, 315 anti-LGBTQ bills were filed during state legislative sessions. "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. This wave of drag show restrictions comes as Republican-led statehouses push other legislation targeting the transgender community. In recent years, it's grown in mainstream popularity, as drag brunches and story hours have popped up throughout the country.ĭrag performer MD Hunter, whose stage name is Athena Sinclair, testifies before an Arkansas Senate panel as Sen. Performers often impersonate both men and women. This is just the latest wave of anti-drag legislationĭrag, a mainstay in LGBTQ nightlife, is considered performance art that celebrates gender fluidity, self expression and self acceptance. For example, North Dakota recently advanced a bill that would criminalize performing drag in front of minors or in public spaces.Ĭritics say these proposals and others like it don't just threaten the increasing popularity of drag they're also thinly veiled attacks against the LGBTQ community as a whole. While Tennessee continues to work on its own proposal, other state legislatures across the U.S. She's concerned about recent proposals in her state that would restrict drag show performances. Wendy Williams is a bar owner in Cookeville, Tennessee.
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