Inequality “Drags” on in Tennessee

“​​Congress shall make no law. . .prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” First Amendment, United States Constitution

“. . .endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” Declaration of Independence

In the opening months of 2023, Tennessee Republican Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson and Tennessee Governor Bill Lee both introduced and signed into law a bill that makes “male or female impersonators who provide entertainment” liable to a Class A misdemeanor. Just one of 430 on-going anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation in the U.S., Senate Bill 3 not only poses a very real threat to queer and gender non-conforming individuals but undermines the notion of free speech central to American politics, culture, and life.

Before I begin my article, I believe that defining terms is not only important but pivotal to participating in complex (and complicated) conversations. For starters, what does “drag” mean? Stephanie O. Landeros and the National Center for Transgender Equality define drag as performances where “individuals dress up as a different gender, primarily for short periods of time” in “highly stylized ways.” In popular culture, when most people think of drag performers, they think of stereotypical drag queens (cisgender men who perform as women)—but it also encompasses performers like drag kings (cisgender women who perform as men). However, it is important to distinguish gender expression and gender identity; drag is a performance of exaggerated expression for entertainment or political means rather than a transgender identity. For transgender people, their transition from the gender they were assigned at birth is not for entertainment but rather an attempt to better align with their gender identity.

Having briefly defined drag, let’s dive into the Tennessee legislature’s motivations and goals for Senate Bill 3. According to the Tennessee Senate, Senate Bill 3 prohibits “male or female impersonators who provide entertainment” where it “could be viewed by a person who is not an adult.” Therefore, under Senate Bill 3, it would be a criminal offense to publicly perform as a “male or female impersonator” in the state of Tennessee and those indicted could face up to six years in prison.

Preceding and following the signing of Senate Bill 3 into law, Senate majority leader Jack Johnson spoke about his motivation for passing this bill. In an article for NBC News, he states, “We’re protecting kids and families and parents who want to be able to take their kids to public places.” This bill, along with multiple bills from at least fourteen other states that target drag performers, stem from long-held conservative criticism of drag performances and LGBTQIA+ individuals more broadly. In a statement for The Daily Beast, a spokesperson for the governor of Tennessee argued that “the bill specifically protects children from obscene, sexualized entertainment.” Based on these statements, these Tennessee legislators suggest that this law, and other anti-drag laws like it, outlaw drag performances which seek to sexually groom and indoctrinate young children.

While I as much as anyone support the protection of children, I contend that we can do so without encroaching upon queer individuals’ livelihood, safety,  human rights, and free speech. Johnson claims that his bill does not “​​[attack] anyone or [target] anyone,” but both queer activists and legal experts are quick to point out that this bill’s purposely vague language could enact harm on not only drag performers but gender non-conforming individuals more broadly.

Chris Sanders, the executive director of the Tennessee Equality Project, told NBC News that “even if the bill doesn’t overtly ban drag. . .its language. . .could create dangers for many members of the LGBTQ community.” He goes on to say that this umbrella of “male or female impersonators” could easily be stretched to include any person who dresses or acts in a way that is not stereotypically associated with their gender assigned at birth. Sanders affirms the danger of this bill for trans and gender non-conforming individuals, and that, under this law, “You could be harassed increasingly for being trans and nonbinary in public.” Therefore, based on the language of the bill, this seems like less of an attempt to protect children and more about criminalizing queer and non-normative gender identities.

Similarly, many scholars and researchers emphasize that there is no research to support claims that LGBTQIA+ individuals or drag queens pose any threat to children. In an article explicitly responding to claims that queer people groom children, the Stop Abuse Campaign stated that “In a one-year period at a major child abuse center, less than 1% of the abusers who were identified were in a homosexual relationship.” In a scientific article published by the National Library of Medicine, out of the 352 interviewed victims of sexual assault, “the children in the group studied were unlikely to have been molested by identifiably gay or lesbian people.” Therefore, according to scientific, peer-reviewed research, claims that queer individuals pose more of a threat to children than their cisgender, heterosexual counterparts are categorically false.

In a segment with NBC News, drag queen Jinkx Monsoon recognizes the fact that drag performances may seem alarming or unusual to people outside of the queer community but, just like any other culturally-unique practice, poses no threat to children or adults. She affirms that “Drag is an artform that was born in the LGBTQIA+ community, so if you don’t take time to get to know that community, of course aspects of drag are not going to make sense to you. But we don’t have to understand everything to know that it should be allowed to exist.” Therefore, like any other cultural practice, drag should be respected for the key role that it plays within LGBTQIA+ communities—especially when it causes no bodily or emotional harm. For those who state that drag is more dangerous or sexually explicit than other accepted cultural practices, I would only wish you to consider American practices like football—considered by some to be the most physically harmful sport for its players—or cheerleading—which encourages young women to perform in scantily clad apparel before audience members, some of whom invariably are children.

However, this does not mean that all drag performances are child friendly. In many cases, drag bars or venues that host drag events will clearly state when children are and are not allowed on the premises. Drag queen Trixie Mattel echoes this idea, “I mean, not all shows are kid appropriate. I don’t want children at my shows. Not at all. But there shouldn’t be a law about it.” Just like any form of entertainment, whether film, TV, or music, some content will inevitably be inappropriate for children. However, there are no laws regulating other forms of entertainment to protect children in the same way that these anti-drag bills do. In a TikTok, queer singer/songwriter VINCINT argues that queer individuals are equally invested in protecting the livelihood of their own and other’s children, they say that “Drag queens aren’t a problem for kids. . . . We have children, too. . .They are always safe because we love them and we understand what it feels like to be hunted, talked about and made fun of, and also murdered.” It is dehumanizing to suggest that queer individuals are less concerned for the safety and wellbeing of children.

In conclusion, I want to bring this conversation of the impacts of legalized bigotry to our local Andrews University campus. When planning for this article, I used my personal social media account to poll about student responses to on-going anti-drag legislation. Two queer AU students, both of whom asked to remain anonymous for their safety, highlighted the danger these laws pose to their livelihood both on and off campus. One transgender student responded, emphasizing, “to think that there may soon be parts of the U.S. it would be illegal for me to enter is wild.” Another stated that anti-drag and queerphobic laws more broadly are “very scary/concerning” and that “it means I have to reevaluate how I’m going to live/exist in the future.” Both of these quotes emphasize how these attacks on queer individuals not only affect LGBTQIA+ people as a whole but impact AU students.

Laws like Senate Bill 3, and others like it, threaten LGBTQIA+ individuals to the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution and Declaration of Independence and make it increasingly difficult for queer people to live meaningful and joy-filled lives. For many, drag performances not only provide monetarily benefit performers and small businesses owners, but bring joy to the lives of many. In a TikTok, Kelley Robinson, President of the Human Rights Campaign states: “The thing I love about drag. . .it is fundamentally about expression. It’s about joy. It’s about love. . . . But it’s about loving ourselves enough to be boldly and unapologetically who we are. In a world that is trying to sow fear and chaos. . .the most resistance that we can have is to be joyful in who we are.” In this world we live in filled with darkness and hate, a little joy can make all the difference.