Claim: Republicans are trying to ban children going to drag races in the US

Question

I've been seeing a lot on social media that states are banning health care for trans kids, banning LGBTQ books in school. Now, I am hearing that Republicans are trying to ban children from going to drag race shows. I don't know if this is 100% true but I would not be surprised if it's true.

Comments

Think you might mean drag "show," not drag "race" right? Drag races are car races.

Answer 1

This claim is true, along with some clarifications. Not all republicans are banning drag, but drag performances are now under scrutiny and risk of bans in specific states across America.

Just to make sure that your information is as clear as possible, drag performances/shows and drag races are different things. Notably, a drag race is a type of motor racing in which motorized vehicles race to a finish line. (Britannica) This is not to be confused with Rupaul Charles' award winning television show "Rupaul's Drag Race", which helped to popularize the art form of drag in popular media and among straight audiences. For the rest of this answer, drag in terms of this issue are referred to as drag performances or drag shows, as the show itself is not being banned by lawmakers and politicians.

In March, Time reported that "Tennessee became the first state to explicitly ban drag shows in public spaces on Thursday after Gov. Bill Lee signed the provision into law hours after the measure passed in the state Senate." (Time) This is the law that is garnering the most attention at the moment, but is not the first seemingly anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation to pop up recently. Time went on to describe how bills alike to this one have been proposed in at least 14 other states. Not all of these bills have not passed officially like Tennessee's has, but these bills have all come from conservative and right-wing politicians. The common theme of these bills is a message of "protecting children" from drag performances. In their phrasings, drag performances are compared to cabaret, specifying that they are any times in which a person is impersonating the opposite gender.

As of March 5th, 2023, Arkansas and Tennessee are the only states who have officially signed their anti-drag show legislation into law, while Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and West Virginia all have similar bills in varying degrees of approval in their respective courts. In the coming months, it is presumed that these bills caught in limbo will fall through and pass into state law as well.

Britannica source: https://www.britannica.com/sports/drag-racing 

Time source: https://time.com/6260421/tennessee-limiting-drag-shows-status-of-anti-drag-bills-u-s/

Comments

This is really great explanation and fact-check that clarifies that not all Republicans are banning drag shows and I like that you defined what a drag show is. Nice work.

Answer 2

From the articles, and social media posts that I have seen this does in fact seem to be true. According to an article by POLITICO, "Lawmakers in at least eight states — including Arizona, South Carolina and Texas — introduced measures to block children from drag shows at the start of this year". While reading this article it claims that Republican states are very angry that drag shows are being seen by children at the young ages that they are at. This article also states that "Arizona Republicans have proposed a trio of drag restrictions including a bill that would classify drag performers, their shows, and establishments that host them as 'adult-oriented businesses'.  So, yes this claim that Republicans are trying to ban children from going too and seeing drag shows being performed on the streets. 

Article: https://www.politico.com/news/2023/02/05/drag-show-bans-gop-statehouses-00081193 

Answer 3

This is true. There has been a lot of recent pushback of drag races by republicans.

This article here explains that 16 Arizona republicans have approved measures to outlaw drag shows that can be seen by children. These laws would classify drag shows as "adult cabaret shows" and prohibit them on public property.

  https://www.kawc.org/news/2023-03-17/arizona-republicans-push-to-ban-drag-shows

Comments

You mentioned drag race, but meant drag shows. I like that you defined what a drag show is -- that's super helpful!

Answer 4

This is true, but I would like to briefly clarify that these performances are called "drag shows," not "drag races!" You may be getting the term confused with RuPaul's Drag Race, which is a popular competition show about the art of Drag.

A brief history of the show- https://time.com/5188791/rupauls-drag-race-history/

Several Anti-drag bills have been introduced in the last month, including Tennessee being the first state to pass a ban on public drag shows. Governor Bill Lee signed the bill on March 2nd.

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/02/1160784530/tennessee-ban-public-drag-shows-transgender-health-care-youth

Answer 5

This is true. 

Recently Americans in over a dozen states have seen proposed bills prohibiting drag shows in some form. While it is not all republicans, these bills are being proposed by republicans. This article says "Tennessee became the first state to explicitly ban drag shows in public spaces on Thursday after Gov. Bill Lee signed the provision into law hours after the measure passed in the state Senate. Drag shows have become the latest target of conservative criticism, as a slew of other anti-drag bills have been introduced in at least fourteen other states—including Arizona, Kentucky, Oklahoma and others." 

https://time.com/6260421/tennessee-limiting-drag-shows-status-of-anti-drag-bills-u-s/

Answer 6

According to NBC news, the state of Texas is trying to ban minors from attending drag related events. I would say that this claim is true, and that Republic State Rep. Bryan Slaton backing the legislation per his tweets and trusted news sources. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/texas-lawmaker-proposes-ban-minors-watching-drag-shows-rcna32183

https://twitter.com/BryanforHD2/status/1633556715755954177

Answer 7

According to the article "Republicans across the country push legislation to restrict drag show performances" by Shawna Mizelle, Republican lawmakers in several states have introduced bills aimed at restricting or banning drag shows in venues that serve alcohol, as they argue that these performances are inappropriate for children. While the bills do not specifically target children attending drag races, they could have an impact on the availability of drag shows for all ages. Drag performers and LGBTQ+ advocates argue that the bills are discriminatory and an attack on their freedom of expression. This could, in the future, translate to the ban of children at drag races.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/05/politics/drag-show-legislation/index.html

Answer 8

While not all Republicans are attempting to ban children from attending drag races, many are. According to NPR, "Republican legislators in Florida, Arizona, Texas and other states are trying to crack down, with proposals to ban minors from drag shows."

Among the leaders of these proposals is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has contemplated ordering Florida's child protective services department to investigate parents who take their children to see drag shows.

https://www.npr.org/2022/06/16/1105544325/drag-shows-children

Answer 9

Republican Lawmakers are not trying to ban children from going to drag races. They are trying to ban drag in general. Several efforts from Republicans have been made to restrict drag performances some in Tennessee already being signed into law. Further debate and discussion is underway. As writers from FiveThirtyEight.com state: 

"A drag queen battle has emerged at many statehouses this year, but not the kind of lip-sync battle royale you might see on “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” So far this legislative session, Republican lawmakers in at least 16 states have introduced bills that seek to restrict or criminalize drag performances. These bills range from restricting state funding from being used for drag shows to banning Sunday drag brunches. In Tennessee, one such bill limiting drag shows in public has already passed the legislature and been signed into law (by a governor who once wore drag)."

Source: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/republicans-lawmakers-are-trying-to-ban-drag-first-they-have-to-define-it/