 We've heard from Conservative propagandists and lawmakers about how urgent action must be taken to protect children from drag queens who want to groom children But what's interesting is that this urgency is a new phenomenon and this whole drag queen hysteria that we're seeing on the right wasn't a thing a year ago or two years ago or three years ago In fact, according to an analysis conducted by the Washington Post They weren't concerned at all about drag queens and this issue just manifested like that last year Kimberly Kendi explains early in the 2023 legislative session at least 26 bills have been introduced in 14 states by Republican legislators taking aim at drag events and abrupt movement that has emerged this year Amid a wider conservative backlash to expanded LGBTQ rights There's no recent precedent for the bills which seek to ban children from drag performances Block the shows from public venues or force locales that host drag events to register as adult-oriented businesses According to LGBTQ advocacy groups a Washington Post analysis of state legislation dating to 2015 shows the first bill in that period seeking broad restrictions on drag shows was prefiled in November For this year's legislative session these bills have not only been numerous They're also coming very early in the legislative session said Emerson J. Sykes an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union Which is tracking the efforts and considering legal challenges They seem to be a top priority this year for the GOP lawmakers the bills are so broadly written opponents say they would Effectively shut down drag shows and limit the gay community's ability to perform and drag at gay pride parades and other long-running public events I find this incredibly fascinating because it demonstrates in real time the ways in which the GOP Manufactures issues and subsequently elevates the salience of said issues. So for years We hear nothing from right-wingers about drag Queen events and all of a sudden boom 26 bills in 14 states just like that. Isn't that interesting? This is why they are so powerful and have so much influence It's because they can take a non-issue and all of a sudden create this urgency to where it's not just that lawmakers are proposing bills But you have right-wing individuals showing up to these events Protesting them harassing these drag performers so they can create something out of nothing if they just choose to do it Democrats have got to learn from them because this type of influence This isn't just something that happens Coincidentally, this is all a coordinated effort by the Republican Party and their various propaganda arms in media on the internet and What they do works and understand why they're doing this. There's a couple of reasons first and foremost It's because they want to distract you from the real issues that actually affect working class Americans And they don't have an economic agenda that working class people actually care for so they distract you by saying Hey, we should all be hysterical over drag performers drag Queen story hour in particular and family friendly drag events That's something you should be concerned about not your employer ripping you off not your health insurance company not covering the things that should be covered I mean, this is what they do now another reason why there's this sudden urgency is because Drag has kind of become this mainstream cultural phenomenon in large part due to RuPaul's drag race now They know that these type of events It's not just that people are fascinated with these shows. This has the power to transform the public, right? It's why LGBTQ plus representation is so profoundly important It's because it influences culture if you don't have a gay person in your family or you don't know a gay person Well to see a gay person portrayed on television that kind of fills in the void and gets you to see oh, okay They are just like me. They're just like my family my brother my sister and so now that drag One elements of LGBTQ plus culture is kind of having that moment. Thanks to RuPaul. They see well This can be another Trojan horse into acceptance and we've got to stop that now I want to share the defense from one lawmaker quote I'm not trying to ban drag shows and I'm not trying to take away anyone's first amendment rights Tennessee State Representative Jack Johnson who filed the first of the recent wave of drag bills on November 9th said in an interview But you should be able to take your kids to a public park or library and not be surprised by seeing sexually explicit Entertainment taking place interesting argument very persuasive. I'm being sarcastic obviously so you say this one Pretending as if all drag shows are sexually explicit There are some more adult oriented drag shows where they curse and whatnot It's more risque, but that's not representative of every single drag show and it's gotten more mainstream So there are family-friendly events drag Queen story hour. So you're wrong there, right? But second of all if you're worried about People taking their kids somewhere and seeing sexually explicit events. Are you gonna crack down on Hooters? Child beauty pageants the sexually explicit Bible that parents give to their children I mean, what about parents taking their kids to? areas where there's guns Remember the NRA convention when there were kids there holding guns. See you're just picking and choosing Not based on any principle not based on what is or isn't appropriate for children, but based on hate It's a thinly veiled justification and it's bullshit now the Washington Post actually spoke with a couple of drag performance Performers and I want to share what they had to say because I think that their perspective is Important because oftentimes when we talk about the legislation against marginalized people We don't get their perspective So I think it's important to bring in their perspective and hear what they have to say about the art what I have to say to folks that find drag shows Sexually explicit or inappropriate for children. I feel like that is something that they need to talk about internally By definition drag is not sexual. It's not regulated that way And I think that there is a long history of Drag and drag type performers being educational and entertaining to people of all ages including children Drag performers say groups targeting their events are using children as an excuse to propagate hate against LGBTQ people in Texas protesters gathered outside of a drag bingo event where Dahlia Von Hecht Savage was performing when people say that about drag queens saying we're like pedophiles We're saying we're like prostitutes. We're trying to be all sexual and perform when really that is not the case A lot of drag performers don't do anything sexual. We might do like a reveal like what I'm wearing right now I'm actually wearing a leotard under here, but it doesn't actually show my private parts popping out or anything like that. I Really feel that party is trying to push us back into the closet and We are here to actually stand for our community and make it stop People ask me all the time. Why do you think they are doing this? What is their motivation this? Because they can because they can there are so many fundamental rights that we may or may not have depending on the state Or even County that you live in you really need our federal government to stand up and protect us at a federal level And that right there is the key There needs to be protections at the federal level and I am absolutely bitter that Democrats did not use the two years that they had To fight harder for the Equality Act fight harder to protect us against these anti LGBTQ plus pieces of legislation There were over 300 anti LGBTQ plus bills in 2022 alone and so the Democratic Party They could have had at least a small sense of urgency at least the level of urgency compared to the anti LGBTQ plus Republicans, but if they're not gonna take legislative action. Well, why not push back rhetorically? Because they just don't seem to care that much. We talked about how Individuals like Hakeem Jeffries the leader of the Democratic Party Was asked about whether or not he'd respond to these groomer accusations against LGBTQ plus people and he said something to the effect of Oh, well, nobody takes folks like Marjorie Taylor-Green seriously who was saying that so in other words Just letting them monopolize discourse here call it LGBTQ plus people groomers Introduce all these pieces of legislation across the country and Democrats that back and do nothing as this community Who was one of their core constituents is getting hammered by the right? So yeah, it's it's deeply frustrating But this story I think is really important because it serves as a reminder that the GOP they are hollow they are vapid and Anyone who cares about what they tell you to care about is being duped this party doesn't care about you They don't care about children They care about representing the interests of their donors and not you which is why they distract you with issues Like this that don't actually affect the lives of normal working class Americans But it does affect the lives of LGBTQ plus people and that is a reason why we need we need to fight against this vociferously so