Bills take aim at drag shows

Feb. 16—There are lots of lattes to pour on a busy weekday morning, but Andy Montee looks to the state capital and sees some trouble brewing for his coffee shop and roastery in Downtown St. Joseph.

That's because the latest flashpoint in the culture wars could result in Montee's cozy café being classified as an adult-themed business, something more akin to a strip club than a Starbucks.

"It certainly wouldn't help us," said Montee, owner of Mokaska Coffee Company at 705 Edmond St. "It could only hurt us and I don't think that's the type of thing we should be doing to small businesses right now."

Some Missouri lawmakers are taking aim at businesses like Mokaska that have sponsored drag shows, especially events that are open to children. Montee sees the performances as something fun that promotes inclusion and acceptance. But one Republican from Northwest Missouri views drag shows as something other than benign entertainment.

Rep. Mazzie Boyd, R-Hamilton, wants any venue that hosts drag shows to be regulated as a "sexually oriented business." She didn't comment on her legislation, House Bill 498, but offered public testimony at a hearing last month in the House General Laws Committee.

"Prior to the madness of the last few years, it was assumed we don't take children to drag shows like we don't take children to strip clubs," Boyd told the committee members during open testimony. "This is about doing what's best for children."

Boyd's legislation, which hasn't passed out of committee, could make it harder for businesses to comply with zoning restrictions and keep a liquor license if they have drag shows. One drag performer in St. Joseph believes the intent of Boyd's legislation isn't to protect children.

"What you're really doing is silencing the voice of a community," said Patrick Hall, a cosmetologist at Bliss Salon in Downtown St. Joseph. "Drag in its inception was a protest. Drag queens and trans people were the people who threw the first stones at Stonewall in the '60s, which started the modern gay rights movement. It was a stepping stone to creating the freedoms that we have."

The committee heard testimony on Boyd's bill at the end of a nine-hour hearing that also included debate, some of it heated and emotional, on measures that would ban gender-affirming health care for minors and block trans athletes from participating in sports that align with their gender identity. The bills are among a wave of legislation in Republican-leaning states that critics see as targeting LGBTQ rights.

"It seems like a lot of the laws are designed to create a fear-based mentality," Montee said.

Boyd's legislation and similar measures represent a backlash to recent events that featured drag queens reading to children at public libraries, including one facility in St. Joseph. In Columbia, Republican politicians heavily criticized a Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration last month that featured a drag performance for school children.

"I never cared about drag queen performances until kids started to go," said Rep. Ben Baker, R-Neosho, who filed a separate bill that would prevent drag shows that are performed on public property or in the presence of a child.

Hall said drag is a form of expression and entertainment that's being misrepresented and demonized for political purposes. He's particularly disappointed in Boyd, who has been known to stop at Bliss Salon for a styling.

In the past, she's even had her hair styled by Hall, an openly gay man whose alter-ego in the drag world is Bianca Bliss. Did she have any idea?

"Oh yeah," Hall said. "She knew as she got older because it's not something I'm ashamed of. The fact that she knew me and has known me my whole life, it's personal to me. I'm like, 'Did you ever feel unsafe around me? Did you ever feel like I went too far or said something that made you feel uncomfortable?' I'm really asking because you've had first-hand experience with a drag queen."

Hall doesn't do her hair anymore, but Bianca Bliss might have something to say if Boyd ever walks through the salon doors.

"It's going to be interesting when she walks in," he said.

Greg Kozol can be reached at greg.kozol@newspressnow.com. Follow him on Twitter: @NPNowKozol.