Arkansas Wants Drag To Be Defined As Adult Entertainment
A new bill in Arkansas’ senate has passed that redefines drag performances as “adult entertainment”. This restricts when and where drag may be performed and likens the shows to adult theatres and cabarets, as well as nude modelling studios, reports KARK.
SENATE BILL 43 NOW MOVES TO THE HOUSE FOR A VOTE
Drag performances have become a new lightning rod for the conservative right in the US; drag story hours, drag brunches and drag shows have all found themselves at the pointy end of Republican discontent.
Arkansas senators voted 29 to 6 in favour of redefining drag performance as adult entertainment. The specificities of the new definition for drag includes “exhibiting a gender identity that is different from the performer’s gender assigned at birth using clothing, makeup, or other accessories that are traditionally worn by members of and are meant to exaggerate the gender identity of the performer’s opposite sex,” reports KARK.
Under these new restrictions, many LGBTQIA+ events and businesses will suffer. The law will mean gay bars, Pride events and other queer-centric spaces will not be able to include trans individuals or drag queens unless they face criminal misdemeanours.
Activists are concerned that this definition is vague enough to keep trans people out of public arenas, too. For trans individuals who have not surgically or medically transitioned, performing in pubic spaces becomes an issue of SB43.
Releasing a statement against the proposed bill, the Human Rights Commission says: “Many drag performances – such as Drag Queen story hours at schools and libraries – are age appropriate for children and can teach important lessons like acceptance and openness. This is just another example of radical politicians in Arkansas spreading propaganda and creating more stigma, discrimination, and ultimately violence against transgender and non-binary people just to rile up extreme members of their base, the only voting bloc they are moving on these issues. The Human Rights Campaign strongly opposes Senate Bill 43 and urges the lawmakers behind them to stop attacking our community and instead focus on real issues impacting Arkansans.”
