Law restricting drag shows isn't about protecting kids. It's about hate | Opinion
I am very disturbed by the recent legislation signed into law by the governor in an attempt to criminalize some male and female impersonation (i.e., “drag”) performances in Tennessee as I believe its purpose is not to protect children. Instead, it is an attempt to authorize harassment of a marginalized minority group.
I am in agreement that children should be protected from obscenity, but I also believe laws should be applied to all sectors of our community equally. Selectively targeting specific members of our community is the essence of discrimination. I have seen bridesmaids ride in a saddle placed on 10-foot-long male genitalia on public streets in Nashville. I have attended public theatrical events at multiple Christian schools in the metro area where the male parts were played by females, and there was much sexual innuendo in the dialogue. The Tennessee Performing Arts Center has booked “Mrs. Doubtfire” for the fall season, and there is even a photograph circulating of our own governor in drag. This is not about gender impersonation being innately obscene; this is about hate toward a specific group of people, and it is WRONG.
As for the need to protect children from drag queens at drag queen story hours and drag brunches, is that not up to their parents to decide? Children do not drive themselves to the library or restaurants. They are accompanied by an adult guardian. Parents can take their children to R-rated movies, to violent sporting events, to concerts where sex is simulated on stage and to comedy events where the dirtiest of jokes are told. In what way is having breakfast while a gay man in a dress lip-syncs to a Taylor Swift song any more problematic than these other forms of entertainment? This is not about protecting children; this is about hate toward a specific group of people, and it is WRONG.
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If you still have doubts, let me break it down for you with this very simple example. The Ryman Auditorium regularly hosts shows by comedians who perform “blue” material. If a male comic performs an hour of his dirtiest, sexualized material, our leaders have no problem with it. Should he exit the stage and leave, he is an upstanding member of society. If instead he dons a wig and heels and returns to the stage to curtsy goodbye, (1) He could now be reclassified as an “adult cabaret performer”; (2) He could be arrested if anyone under 18 happens to be in the audience; and (3) He could be arrested because the Ryman is about 500 feet away from a church. He doesn’t say a single additional word, but he could now be considered a criminal. For his second offense of wearing a wig, he could be charged with a Class E felony, carrying a possible six-year prison sentence.
This is not about obscenity. This is about criminalizing drag. Drag is predominantly performed by gay men and transgender women; thus the law uses drag as a proxy to criminalize us.
This law is not about anything its authors claim it to be. It is about hate towards LGBTQ+ people. Please see it for what it is, and please let our government know that it is WRONG.
Aaron B. Binkley is an amateur drag performer and a Nashville native. His stage name is "Belinda Barbizon." Email him at aaron@dragcriminals.org.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Opinion: Law restricting drag shows is about hate, not protecting kids
