To Florida, Schools, Bathrooms and Drag Shows, What the Fuck is Going on in the 'United' States?
Credit: National Geographic
So, I was home the other week for reading week, and naturally my friends and I were talking about the YouTube channel, Girl Defined. Now, if you're unaware about who Girl Defined is, literally you're so lucky. But, because you need to know for context, this is my formal apology. Then, a friend searches their account and a video pops up from Trixie Mattel's YouTube channel. Trixie is a drag queen in the United States who is known for being a contestant on season 7 of RuPaul's Drag Race. In her video, Trixie was reacting to a video from Girl Defined that detailed their opinions about Drag Queens. Trixie responded to many of the disgusting remarks made by the women. My friend and I who were even aware about how gross the women of Girl Defined could be were surprised by the harsh comments they were outwardly making.
A few days after this occurrence, I was scrolling on Instagram when I saw the news account Now This News posted a photo with a headline of "TN House Republicans passed a bill to ban drag shows in public or in front of children." I thought it was such a coincidence because the women in the Girl Defined video were worried about the exposure of queer people or drag queens to the children of the general public. So, what is this phenomenon?
Let's start with what drag shows are. Drag shows are when a drag queen ("A person, usually male, who uses costuming and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes") usually performs a show that involves singing or lip-synching to songs for an audience. Drag queens have a lot of history to their art because of their connection to queer culture. Though there are records of the term 'drag' being used as in theatre as far back as the 1800's, the form of drag that western culture is currently familiar with began in "1867, when both males and females at the Hamilton Lodge in Harlem dressed up and competed for awards for the best gown or feminine figure."
Print from 1937
Credit: A Gender Variance Who's Who
In the 80's and 90's, drag began to be more popular in New York and even in the media. Even though being involved in drag is separate from one's sexuality, the intersections of these two expressions and the queer community is always crossing.
Considering the previously mentioned information, the restrictions that the republican party have introduced are a direct hit at drag queens, and therefore, the queer community of the United States. The legislation that the GOP is pushing would mean that drag shows could not happen "In front of young people - including schools, colleges, or on public property." Though the argument of this new legislation is to try and 'protect the children' (""We're just trying to keep minors away from sexually explicit material," says the Arkansas Republican state Rep. Mary Bently), this legislation is harmful to the queer community and is right on agenda with the values of the republican party, as they believe that less exposure to queer people would prevent children from connecting with those people. This is because representation matters. It's kinda funny, in recent years there has been a high increase of representation of queer people in shows, in media and even in politics. This gives other queer people the chance to feel recognized and seen. By preventing drag shows from happening in certain spaces, it's limiting people from feeling connected and seen. It's like going back in time.
The other interesting thing that needs to be noted about drag queens and drag shows it that they're not all explicit. There have been many drag shows in the past in which children attended and it was a safe space. A CBC article on kids involvement with viewing drag shows wrote that "Ashleigh Yule, a Calgary-based registered psychologist who specializes in child and adolescent mental health, says 'The idea that drag is somehow bad is actually incorrect.'" She said that a great opportinity for parents to talk about gender with their children is to actually watch some of this content and have a conversation about it. In addition, drag shows have a variety as to what they actually include. Yes, there are many sexually explicit performances, but just like any other explicit content, it would be detailed in the event information. If the event was not welcome to children, it would say so. Just like any other type of media, parents are keeping control as to what they child is exposed to.
Credit: The Guardian
The photo above shows the Drag Queen Story Hour event that happened at a San Francisco public library, where drag queen Honey Mahogany read stories to children and families. The initiative is to give children the chance to see diversity and ask questions. The event is financially supported by a private organization (no tax dollars) and the children loved it. "Every once in a while a toddler would dart towards her, reaching out to touch her layers of puffy pink tulle and then run back into the audience." At the end of the readings, the children got a chance to meet Honey and even to ask her questions. By preventing these opportunities from happening, it means that children don't have the chance to experience diversity.
Another way in which the United States is preventing the expression of queer people is in the Don't Say Gay bill. The bill, which was signed late March 2022 in Florida, has many different aspects to it which all affect how sexuality is expressed or taught (or not at all) in schools. When the Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill, he stated that "We will make sure that parents can send their kids to school to get an education, not an indoctrination." The main goal of the bill is to prevent any teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten to Grade 3. The weird thing about this bill is that the details of it could be possibly used in many ways and a variety of teachers in Florida schools are confused as what they're allowed to teach and are scared of lawsuits.
Credit: Voice of OC
Because of course discrimination against 2SLGBTQIA+ people never stops, next on the roster we have Tennessee! The governor of Tennessee, Bill Lee (he deserves a bland name like that), signed a ban to prevent minors from accessing gender-affirming care. The bill "Prohibits health care providers from 'performing on a minor or administering to a minor a medical procedure of enabling to a minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minor's sex.'" Even if a minor was to receieve consent from their parents, the parents could be held liable. In addition, health care professionals who provide this care to minors could be met with a civil penalty of $25, 000. The ban doesn't just include the prevention of gender-affirming surgeries, but also medical tools like puberty blockers and hormones. The Tennessean detailed that "Children who currently take the medications will have until March 31, 2023 to cycle off of treatment. The law...will officially go into effect this summer." Although there have been many that support this bill, the backlash has been intense. While I was researching this, a variety of websites wrote that many civil rights organizations are threatening to sue when the bill takes effect. I hope that this is the solution.
And lastly, the star of tonight's show, Arkansas. Due to the mindset of many GOP party members thinking that all queer people are somehow perverts, we will be talking about the stupid and everlasting conversation of trans people in public bathrooms. There's no separation of bathroom and state now! The proposed law, which is to be amended, would mean that "Adults who enter and remain in a facility that does not align with their gender assigned at birth would risk criminal charges of sexual indecency with a child if they are aware that minors are present." Although Senator John Payton claims that the purpose of the bill is to protect children against sexual behaviour/invasions of privacy, this newly proposed bill is a direct hit at transgender people. A bill of this similar manner was attempted to be passed in 2017, but the bill was not to the extreme as it is now because it did not include criminal charges.
The sponsor of this bill, Arkansas State Senator John Payton (Did I hear you say boo? Say it LOUDER!)
Credit: The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
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What a light and fun little post! Although we have moved forward as a society to being more inclusive and inviting to those who are different than us, things still happen behind the curtains that we are unaware about. Even though there has been more representation of queer people in the media, these bills that are limiting freedom's and inclusivity of others are still happening. Due to the fact that I don't keep up on American politics much, I know that I'm still missing bills and legislation that is currently in the works of being passed or is passed that is discriminatory against 2SLGBTQIA+ people.
Sometimes I hear so much of it that my mind swirls and I forget that it's happening. I hope this post is a reminder to you, too.
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