Texas Legislator Proposes Ban On Minors Watching Drag Shows
A Texas lawmaker announced on Monday that he will introduce legislation to ban minors from attending drag shows in the state.
State Representative Bryan Slaton, a Republican, said a law was necessary to protect children from "perverted adults," citing a viral video of children attending a drag show in Dallas on Saturday.
“The events of this past weekend were horrifying and show a disturbing trend in which perverted adults are obsessed with sexualizing young children,” Slaton said in a statement. “As a father of two young children, I would never take my children to a drag show and I know speaker Dade Phelan and the rest of my Republican colleagues wouldn’t either.”
He added, “Protecting our own children isn’t enough and our responsibility as lawmakers extends to the sexualization that is happening across Texas.”
Slaton was referring to a drag show that took place at the Mr. Misster bar. The event, the Drag the Kids to Pride Drag Show, was advertised as a “family friendly spin off” of the bar's Champagne Drag Brunch show.
A viral video from the event shows children watching drag performers dance and tipping them with cash. It attracted a crowd of protesters, according to NBC News.
Several other Republican lawmakers – including Representatives Majorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Lauren Boebert of Colorado – and conservative pundits also weighed in on the matter, arguing that it should be "illegal" for minors to attend drag shows.
Podcast host Allie Beth Stuckey, who has over 357,000 followers on Twitter, went as far as suggesting the parents, performers, and bar owners “should be charged with sexual abuse of children.”
LGBTQ+ activists and some Democratic lawmakers slammed the prospective ban.
“First it was CRT [critical race theory]. Then it was trans kids playing sports. Now it’s… drag?" Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow said on Twitter. “None of these things fix inflation, bring healthcare costs down, or save kids from gun violence. It’s just the fear tactic of the month for the GOP. And it’s embarrassing.”
Slaton's announcement comes amid a recent surge in charged rhetoric surrounding how and whether children should learn about LGBTQ+ issues.
In recent months, conservative lawmakers, television pundits, and other public figures have accused opponents of a newly enacted Florida education legislation – which critics have dubbed the "Don’t Say Gay" law – of trying to “groom” or “indoctrinate” children. The word “grooming” has long been associated with mischaracterizing LGBTQ+ people, particularly gay men and transgender women, as child sex abusers.
Simultaneously, LGBTQ+ activists have been fighting against the record number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced in state legislatures this year – more than 320, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
Texas lawmakers have also consistently made headlines for their slate of anti-LGBTQ+, and particularly anti-trans, policies in recent months.
In February, Texas Governor Gregg Abbott ordered the state’s child welfare agency to investigate child abuse claims filed against parents who might be providing their trans children with gender-affirming medical care. A statewide injunction that was placed on the directive in March was struck down by the Texas Supreme Court last month. However, the court also said such investigations are not under the governor’s control, in a nod to families with trans children.
Read related myGwork articles here:
Texas Supreme Court Allows Investigations Of “Child Abuse” Into Parents Of Trans Youth To Continue
Texas Attorney General Calls LGBTQ+ People “Predators”
Texas Judge Temporarily Blocks Investigations Into Parents Of Trans Kids
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