Republicans Are Trying to Ban Drag Shows Now

Tennessee is set to become the first state in the U.S. to ban drag shows.

Last week, the Tennessee state senate voted in favor of a bill that criminalizes “adult cabaret performances” that take place in public or in venues where minors could view them. Adult cabaret performances include topless dancers, strippers, and “male or female impersonators.” The state House is set to hear the bill Thursday; if it passes, it will head to the desk of Gov. Bill Lee, who has a track record of signing anti-trans bills into law. 

While Tennessee is likely to become the first state to formally ban drag shows, there are at least 36 proposed bills that target drag in at least 14 other states, including Arizona, Idaho, and Texas. According to the Washington Post, the current legislative session is the first since at least 2015 to propose anti-drag legislation. 

“Last night my heart was broken as I learned that Tennessee’s anti Drag/Trans bill passed,” famous drag star Jinkx Monsoon wrote in a statement on Instagram following the senate vote. “I really had more faith. At this point, I dunno what else to say. We are fighting an uphill battle as a direct result of the progress we have made.”

The legislative push to go after drag coincides with rising attacks on drag queens. Last year alone, more than 120 drag events were attacked or threatened, according to a GLAAD report. Hate groups stormed into drag events, far-right pundits like Matt Walsh compared drag queens to “degenerates” and “pedophiles,” and in November, a gunman targeted Club Q, an LGBTQ nightclub that was scheduled to host a drag brunch the following morning. The gunman killed five people, including two trans people. Earlier this week, Proud Boys members attacked a drag story hour in Washington, D.C. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis even suggested last year that parents who take their kids to drag shows should be investigated for abuse.

Drag isn’t even new, with some scholars tracing its roots back to Shakespeare when men performed as women characters. Drag performers have been reading to children for years, ever since Michelle Tea launched Drag Story Hour in San Francisco in 2015. But the far right didn’t target them until recently. 

“Many drag performances—such as Drag Queen story hours at schools and libraries—are age appropriate for children and can teach important lessons like acceptance and openness,” Human Rights Campaign Arkansas State Director Eric Reece said in a statement about a similar anti-drag bill in Arkansas to the one in Tennessee. (The Arkansas House recently removed drag shows from its bill restricting “adult-oriented” performances.)

“This is just another example of radical politicians in Arkansas spreading propaganda and creating more stigma, discrimination, and ultimately violence against transgender and non-binary people just to rile up extreme members of their base, the only voting bloc they are moving on these issues,” Reece said.

As drag bans gain momentum, LGBTQ activists and performers are speaking out and advocating against them. Drag is distinct from transness, but many lawmakers and pundits have conflated the two while pursuing attacks on trans and gender diverse people, and trans and nonbinary people have also raised alarm bells, noting that bills targeting drag could be used to target trans people’s movements in public.

“What does that mean for trans people? If I’m going through the grocery store as I am, if I am in public? Am I arrested just for walking down the street?” Fifi Dosch, a California-based comedian and trans woman, said to VICE News. 

The last two years have been the deadliest on record for trans people, according to the Human Rights Campaign, and a VICE News investigation found that death threats targeting trans-inclusive teachers and healthcare providers are on the rise.  

All this is part of a growing and ongoing movement to marginalize and criminalize LGBTQ people, and gender nonconforming people especially. Tennessee, along with several other states, is considering multiple additional anti-trans bills, including a ban on gender-affirming care for minors.

Earlier this month, South Dakota passed the first gender-affirming care ban that will force youth who are already receiving care to detransition. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox claimed he’s supporting LGBTQ people as he banned gender-affirming care for youth in his state, and Florida’s proposed ‘Reverse Woke Act’ aims to force businesses to pay for detransitions. 

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