Arkansas lawmakers filed a bill Monday to ban most drag shows for people under the age of 18.If approved, the bill would classify a drag show as adult entertainment inside an adult-oriented business. This means anyone under 18 years old could not watch the show and it could not happen on public property.Follow this link to read the bill and track its status.Sen. Gary Stubblefield (R – Dist. 26) and Rep. Mary Bentley (R – Dist. 54) sponsored the bill and say it is about protecting children.”It’s destroying these kids’ innocence,” Stubblefield said. “They’re no longer kids. They’re seeing things that they shouldn’t be seeing.”The bill defines a drag performance as one in which one or more performers exhibit gender identity that is different than their assigned sex by using clothing, makeup or other accessories.”It’s prohibiting any drag queen performance in front of where minors are present,” Bentley said.It counts as a performance if it involves singing, dancing, lip-synching or other types of performance for an audience of at least two people, regardless if it’s free or not.Patty Johnson, who performs drag as Lady Kakes Monroe, opposes the bill. She has performed drag for all ages for more than a decade.”The audacity of this bill to try to say that we aren’t being appropriate in front of all audiences is absurd,” she said.Megan Tullock, director of programs and advocacy for NWA Equality, doesn’t believe the bill is actually about protecting children.”Is it that we don’t want people with low-cut shorts to read books to children?” she said. “Or is this just about keeping anybody with any kind of queerness away from kids?”Tullock said the way the bill is written, it could unconstitutionally limit free speech and could impact everything from outdoor theater to pride parades.”Even having nothing to do with the youth zone that does include drag performance, our main stage, which is outside, has drag performers on it and that would not be possible because it’s an outdoor space that kids have access to,” Tullock said.Stubblefield and Bentley said they don’t think they’ll have any problems getting their bill passed due to the large Republican majority in both the State House and State Senate.
Arkansas lawmakers filed a bill Monday to ban most drag shows for people under the age of 18.
If approved, the bill would classify a drag show as adult entertainment inside an adult-oriented business. This means anyone under 18 years old could not watch the show and it could not happen on public property.
Follow this link to read the bill and track its status.
Sen. Gary Stubblefield (R – Dist. 26) and Rep. Mary Bentley (R – Dist. 54) sponsored the bill and say it is about protecting children.
“It’s destroying these kids’ innocence,” Stubblefield said. “They’re no longer kids. They’re seeing things that they shouldn’t be seeing.”
The bill defines a drag performance as one in which one or more performers exhibit gender identity that is different than their assigned sex by using clothing, makeup or other accessories.
“It’s prohibiting any drag queen performance in front of where minors are present,” Bentley said.
It counts as a performance if it involves singing, dancing, lip-synching or other types of performance for an audience of at least two people, regardless if it’s free or not.
Patty Johnson, who performs drag as Lady Kakes Monroe, opposes the bill. She has performed drag for all ages for more than a decade.
“The audacity of this bill to try to say that we aren’t being appropriate in front of all audiences is absurd,” she said.
Megan Tullock, director of programs and advocacy for NWA Equality, doesn’t believe the bill is actually about protecting children.
“Is it that we don’t want people with low-cut shorts to read books to children?” she said. “Or is this just about keeping anybody with any kind of queerness away from kids?”
Tullock said the way the bill is written, it could unconstitutionally limit free speech and could impact everything from outdoor theater to pride parades.
“Even having nothing to do with the youth zone that does include drag performance, our main stage, which is outside, has drag performers on it and that would not be possible because it’s an outdoor space that kids have access to,” Tullock said.
Stubblefield and Bentley said they don’t think they’ll have any problems getting their bill passed due to the large Republican majority in both the State House and State Senate.
