How many states have passed laws banning drag shows?
Current Events Friday
Movement Advancement Project. "Equality Maps: Restrictions on Drag Performances." https://www.mapresearch.org/equality-maps/criminaljustice/drag_restrictions. Accessed 08/11/2023.
Critical Analysis
According to the data from the visual above, how many states have explicitly banned drag shows?
According to the data from the visual above, how many states have laws about “adult” performances that could be used to target or restrict drag?
Draw a conclusion about the geographic area of the states where these bans have been passed?
The bills are all aimed at drag show performances, but differ in their specifics. For example, Arizona's introduced bill looks to ban drag performances for those under the age of 15, while Nebraska wants to put that cutoff at 19. While a bill in Missouri only aims to outlaw drag performances on public property, most others target all public spaces where minors could be present. The bills could affect drag shows for example at street festivals or theaters as well as during a format that drew special ire from conservatives - drag queen story hour. The initiative started by a San Francisco-based drag performer to educate and foster acceptance for the LGBT community has seen drag queens read to children in bookshops and libraries since 2015. If you were the governor of your state would you sign a bill banning drag queens reading books to children in bookshops and libraries?
Some people refer to a drag show ban as a solutions in search of a problem, when you think about the biggest problems facing the U.S. (see list below*), is this one of those big problems?
In 1991, with America gripped by a struggle between an increasingly liberal secular society that pushed for change and a conservative opposition that rooted its worldview in divine scripture, James Davison Hunter wrote a book and titled it with a phrase for what he saw playing out in America’s fights over abortion, gay rights, religion in public schools and the like: “Culture Wars.” Hunter, a 30-something sociologist at the University of Virginia, didn’t invent the term, but his book vaulted it into the public conversation, and within a few years it was being used as shorthand for cultural flashpoints with political ramifications. He hoped that by calling attention to the dynamic, he’d help America “come to terms with the unfolding conflict” and, perhaps, defuse some of the tensions he saw bubbling. Fights over drag show bans are a contemporary example of America’s culture wars. Do you think that these culture wars have been defused, are our nation’s cultural tensions bubbling, or are our tensions boiling?
While not all drag performers are LBGT (and being a drag performer is distinct from being trans), the practice has a strong history in the LGBT community, especially among gay men. Today, more than 7 percent of adults in the U.S. identify as LGBT. How does the issue of banning drag shows illustrate the concept of federalism?
What Constitutional argument could be made against the banning of drag shows?
Imagine that the national government and a state government had conflicting rules or laws regarding drag shows. Based on the precedent from McCulloch v. Maryland. Which law would prevail?
Tennessee on Thursday became the first U.S. state to explicitly ban drag performances in public spaces accessible to minors. Gov. Bill Lee signed the bill into law after he himself had cause some controversy when high school year book pictures of him dressed in drag resurfaced. How about that?! Considering the range of political ideologies in the United States. Using the definitions in the GoPoPro Glossary, what would an adherent of the following ideologies likely argue about drag show bans:
Learning Extension
Read about the bans introduced in each state in this Time report.
Action Extension
Did you know that you can contact your state legislators and governor about issues that are important to you? You sure can. You can also contact them about issues that aren’t important to you. Give it a shot (electronically, on the phone, or in person) and let your state representatives (this is a republic after all) know what you think about drag show bans then share with your experience with your class.
Visual Extension*
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