This video shows a sad day in Arkansas as a brightly-clad crowd stood on the steps of the Arkansas Capitol Building belting out "Seasons of Love" in protest of a new proposed bill.
Senate Bill 43l in (and I regrettably say this at the moment) my home state wants to limit what they are calling "drag" performances, putting them in the same category as strip clubs and putting many restrictions on places that hold these performances. They cannot be within 1,000 feet of schools, churches, etc, and prohibits them from public property. It would also prohibit those under 18 from watching. The incredibly vague definition of drag performances in the bill keeps throwing around the term "prurient interest," which I would love to pretend I did not have to Google...but I did. Apparently, it means "having or encouraging an excessive interest in sexual matters." So there you go.
I read in another article that, somehow I suppose in an attempt to "make it better" ( cue eye roll) suggests it does not apply to every circumstance where someone would dress as another gender, again citing the word "prurient" and just adding another vague layer to the onion. Its main goal, as supporters of the bill say, is to "protect our children." Well, let's not worry about issues like the gaps in public education, teacher shortages, mental illness, or rural poverty. That doesn't affect our kids nearly as much as seeing a drag queen. Give me a break.
My mother teaches theatre at a college that prides itself in having theatre productions that can be enjoyed by those of all ages. She has directed productions like Charlie's Aunt, and I myself was in Servant to Two Masters where I played a woman who disguises herself as a man. And, lest we forget, 1/5 of Shakespeare's surviving 38ish plays involve cross-dressing in some way. He was not the only one, though. English Renaissance, Greek, and Japanese theatre along with Chinese Opera all had these practices, which mostly stemmed from the belief that women should not be allowed on stage. Then there are the musicals of today...Kinky Boots, Priscilla Queen of the Dessert...which most of us theatergoers will be sad and angered to see canceled simply because some people cannot handle all of the fabulosity. If people do not do enough research before going to the theatre to see if it is a family show or not, that is on them. "Prurient" does not just apply to the theatre of today either, plenty of classic theatre contains innuendos, but I am sure that those that dreamed up this bill would not be able to catch it.
The less "fabulous" non-allies act like drag is a new thing. In one article I read, yet another wealthy white male [shocker] was quoted as saying "Children are being exposed today to things that 30, 40, 50, years ago, we couldn't even imagine." So, again, I took to Google. The first person to actually call themselves a "queen of drag" was William Dorsey Swann in the 1800s. He was jailed for, among other things, holding a drag ball. The modern-day queen of drag in most people's opinions, RuPaul Charles, has had a mainstream drag competition show called RuPaul's Drag Race on television for about 14 years, which has won him numerous Emmys. RuPaul first appeared on the American Music Show 41 years ago and hit the mainstream media 34 years ago when he was in a music video for "Loveshack" by the B-52s. And, of course, I would be remiss to not mention the famous line in one of my favorite childhood movies..."What do you want to do, dress in drag and do the hula?"
I guess I should have started this with "Some older white men have ignored issues that should actually be addressed and turned their attention to, yet again, vaguely limiting a group of people just because they are different." Which, to be honest, our country has a solid history of limiting or taking away rights from people just because they are different. I think the real question is not what is drag...what is performance....who does this apply to...but WHY CAN'T WE JUST LEAVE EACH OTHER ALONE?!?! I am sure that the people for this bill would not be happy with someone coming in and trying to limit where and when they could play golf...and they don't even make money doing that! Most drag performances I have seen advertised take place in bars and clubs, where children should not be anyway. And as far as events like Drag Queen story time for kids, there is nothing "prurient" about those, though I'm sure some will try and make it that way. Megan Tullock of NWA Equality said it very well, "“I think that the legislature is trying to hold drag to a special standard, making it be only prurient. And prurience is really in the eye of the beholder." Does anyone remember Elvis?
I guess, to sum up my rant, I will just point out one other thing someone told me they heard in reaction to this bill...if you don't want to watch a drag performance, just don't watch one! Seems like a pretty simple solution. And I hope as we move forward we can all remember the words of the great RuPaul:
"We're all born naked and the rest is Drag."
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