Nashville drag artist Vidalia Anne Gentry speaks out against anti-drag bills in the Tennessee legislature.Photo: John Amis/AP/Shutterstock
Across the nation, conservative state lawmakers are advancing —and passing— bills that take direct aim at drag performers, placing restrictions on LGBTQ+ expression that critics of the legislation call discriminatory and unconstitutional.
The American Civil Liberties Union is currently tracking nearly 500 anti-LGBTQ bills in the U.S., many of which would ban or censor performances like drag shows. The bills advance in state legislatures as LGBTQ+ people face rising threats to their safety and right-wing groups continue to protest family-friendly activities like drag queen story hours.
Below, a look at where each state stands when it comes to anti-drag legislation.
Alabama State Capitol.Taylor Hill/Getty
Alabama
In April, Alabama Republicans filed legislation that would prohibit drag performances in public places where children are present. Themeasurewould serve as an amendment to the state’s Anti-Obscenity Enforcement Act, which prohibits the distribution of obscene material to minors.
Alaska
There are currently no successful measures targeting drag performances in Alaska.
Arizona
Arizona Republicans have advanced at least four measures aiming to limit LGBTQ+ expression, including at least two bills in the Senate that were originally aimed at regulating drag shows, but have since been rewritten to take aim at “sexually-explicit performances” or “adult cabaret performances.” One of those bills would allow for a felony charge and possible sex offender status for parents who allow their children to watch adult-oriented performances or be in a building where an adult-oriented performance is taking place.
Arizona Gov.Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, has vowed to veto the measures.
Arkansas
ARepublican-backed bill signed into lawin Arkansas was edited after initially being written to crack down on drag shows specifically. Now, the bill adds restrictions to “adult-oriented” performances and businesses and was amended due toexpected court challenges. As written, the law does specifically place restrictions on performances that include the “complete or partial exposure” of prosthetic breasts, which could apply to some drag performances.
California
There are currently no successful measures targeting drag performances in California, where Gov.Gavin Newsomhas criticizedwhat he callsa GOP-led “assault on the Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Trans community.”
Hyoung Chang/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty
Colorado
The measure, which passed in both the state House and Senate, would enhance criminal penalties for indecent exposure in view of a minor under the age of 15. Proponents of the bill noted that LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations in Colorado did not express concerns about the legislation, and HB23-1135 now rests in the hands of Colorado Gov.Jared Polis, the nation’s first openly gay governor, for signature.
Connecticut
There are currently no successful measures targeting drag performances in Connecticut.
Delaware
There are currently no successful measures targeting drag performances in Delaware.
Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via AP
Florida
In May, Florida’s Republican Gov.Ron DeSantis— who has built a legacy of targeting the queer and trans community —signed sweeping anti-LGBTQ legislation, including a measure directly targeting drag shows. In a press release, the DeSantis administration described the bill as one that would “protect children from sexually explicit adult performances in all venues — including drag shows and strip clubs.”
Georgia
There are currently no successful measures targeting drag performances in Georgia.
Hawaii
There are currently no successful measures targeting drag performances in Hawaii.
Idaho State Capitol.Getty
Idaho
Illinois
There are currently no successful measures targeting drag performances in Illinois.
Indiana
There are currently no successful measures targeting drag performances in Indiana.
Iowa State Capitol.Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty
Iowa
Abillproposed in the Iowa state Senate would criminalize adults who take minors to a drag show, banning anyone under the age of 18 from attending a drag show at any business in Iowa.
As one Jefferson County, Iowa, residenttold a local radio station, “The thing about the legislature wanting to ban it, first to me is just like, ‘Why?’ Because it’s not even really a big problem. There really are very few drag shows in Iowa that are all ages. But when they’re doing an all ages show, they are no different than watching somebody in a costume doing karaoke.” That bill ultimatelydiedin the state legislature.
Kansas
A Republican state senator in Kansas introduced a bill in January that wouldclassify drag shows as obscenity, barring them from taking place at schools or in libraries (which would effectively put a halt to drag queen story times, which are popular events across America and have been subject toattacks from right-wing extremistsamid the bans). That bill — and another that prohibits the use of state funds for the production of drag shows — are now advancing in the state legislature.
Kentucky
In March, Kentucky’s Senate passed abillthat would outlaw drag shows from being performed within 1,000 feet of schools, parks or walking trails, with proponents saying the measure was meant to protect children from “adult-oriented performances.” Critics of the measure argue that it, like others, lumps drag in with sexualized performances, like those at strip clubs, when many drag performances aren’t sexual in nature.
As one Lexington-based drag queen Uma Jewels, told outlet WLEX: “Drag is just about the most unsexy thing I can think of doing and if you are wanting to sexualize drag, I think that is on you and not on the performer.” The Kentucky bill was ultimately defeated in the legislature.
Louisiana
There are currently no successful measures targeting drag performances in Louisiana.
Robert F Bukaty/AP/Shutterstock
Maine
There are currently no successful measures targeting drag performances in Maine.
Maryland
There are currently no successful measures targeting drag performances in Maryland.
Massachusetts
While Massachusetts has not seen any effective anti-drag legislation, officials in one small town raised alarms when they revoked permission for a local group to hold a Pride event because it included a drag show. The American Civil Liberties Union slammed the three-member board of North Brookfield that voted 2-1 in April to pull the permit, saying, “Drag is a creative celebration of LGBTQ+ culture, and the government has no right to censor LGBTQ+ people and expression.”
Michigan
There are currently no successful measures targeting drag performances in Michigan.
Tim Evans/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Minnesota
In Minnesota, a bill that wouldclassify drag performances as adult entertainmentand place restrictions on where those performances could take place, is advancing.
Mississippi
There are currently no successful measures targeting drag performances in Mississippi.
Missouri
Montanans protest anti-LGBTQ+ legislation at the state capitol in 2021.Thom Bridge/Independent Record via AP
Montana
In May, along withother anti-LGBTQ legislation, Montana becamethe first state in the nation to prohibit anyone in drag from reading to children in school and libraries, seemingly targeting family-friendly Drag Story Hour events that have been subject to criticism from far-right groups.
Thelegislation, which went into effect immediately, also prohibits minors from attending drag shows, and bans drag performances from occurring on public property where children could be present. Under the statute, minors who attend a drag show — or their parents — are entitled to bring legal action against the performers within 10 years of the event date to seek damages for “psychological, emotional, economic, and physical harm.”
Nebraska
In Nebraska, ameasurethat would prohibit any individual “under nineteen years of age or under twenty-one years of age [if alcohol is served] from being present at a drag show” is moving through the legislature. If passed, the bill would allow anyone who knowingly brings someone under 19 to a drag show to be charged with a Class I misdemeanor.
Nevada
There are currently no successful measures targeting drag performances in Nevada.
New Hampshire
There are currently no successful measures targeting drag performances in New Hampshire.
New Jersey
There are currently no successful measures targeting drag performances in New Jersey.
New Mexico
There are currently no successful measures targeting drag performances in New Mexico.
New York
There are currently no successful measures targeting drag performances in New York.
North Carolina
North Carolina Republicans have filed a bill that wouldcriminalize drag showsperformed in the presence of minors.
North Dakota
North Dakota lawmakers have advanced a bill that wouldplace restrictions on drag showsas Gov. Doug Burgumsigned into law a billthat allows teachers to ignore the chosen pronouns of transgender students.
Jason Whitman/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Ohio
There are currently no successful measures targeting drag performances in Ohio.
Oklahoma
Two bills introduced in Oklahoma aim to ban public drag performances in the state — a move the state’s ACLU chapter has called “unhinged.” One of thosemeasuresis currently advancing.
Oregon
There are currently no successful measures targeting drag performances in Oregon.
Pennsylvania
There are currently no successful measures targeting drag performances in Pennsylvania.
Rhode Island
There are currently no successful measures targeting drag performances in Rhode Island.
South Carolina
A South Carolina measure aims toban minors from attending drag shows, and define any business that hosts a drag show “a sexually oriented business,” and therefore subject to harsher restrictions than other businesses. Anyone who violates the provisions of the measure, as written, would be subject to a felony.
South Dakota
A bill advancing in South Dakota would prohibit the use of state resources from being used to host “lewd or lascivious content,” defined as depicting “any specific anatomical areas” or “any physical human body activity, whether performed alone or with other persons for the predominant purpose of appealing to a prurient interest.”
Maren Morris performs with drag artist Alexia Noelle Paris in Tennessee following drag ban.Jason Kempin/Getty
Tennessee
Tennessee was the first state in the country to officially enact strict limits on drag shows when Gov.Bill Leesigned ananti-drag measureinto law in March.
In his ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas L. Parker said that the law is “unconstitutionally vague and substantially overbroad.”
“The AEA’s ‘harmful to minors’ standard applies to minors of all ages, so it fails to provide fair notice of what is prohibited, and it encourages discriminatory enforcement,” Parker continued in the ruling. “The AEA is substantially over-broad because it applies to public property or ‘anywhere’ a minor could be present.”
Texas
In Texas, lawmakers are considering at least four bills that aim to restrict drag performances. Among them is a bill that, like many others, would criminalize drag performances where children are present. The bill would also strip libraries of state funding if they host any event featuring drag performers.
Kelsea Ballerini performs with drag queens Manila Luzon, Jan Sport, Olivia Lux and Kennedy Davenport at the CMT Music Awards in Austin.Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty
Utah
There are currently no successful measures targeting drag performances in Utah.
Vermont
There are currently no successful measures targeting drag performances in Vermont.
Virginia
There are currently no successful measures targeting drag performances in Virginia.
Washington
There are currently no successful measures targeting drag performances in Washington.
West Virginia
West Virginia lawmakers are considering one bill that wouldprohibit childrenfrom attending drag shows, and another that wouldenact harsh fineson parents if they did — proposing first-time offenders be charged with a misdemeanor and second offenses yielding a $25,000 fine orup to five years in jail.
Wisconsin
There are currently no successful measures targeting drag performances in Wisconsin.
Wyoming
There are currently no successful measures targeting drag performances in Wyoming.
source: people.com
