Drag shows are protected by 1st Amendment, performers tell federal judge

They already banned Shakespeare in several schools for being too sexual.

Republicans only care about Shakespeare, beethoven, and other such classical plays and music when they can use it as a dog whistle in order to imply an inherent criminality and inferiority present in Black Culture

And then they'll turn around and ban all of the ones that don't involve cross-dressing because in Shakespeare's time the female parts were all played by men.

All Shakespearean plays were originally performed by men for all parts aside from children at times as far as I'm aware.

They've unintentionally banned the Bible in their regressionist book burning jihad, so probably.

Or an ongoing, exponentially worsening global climate catastrophe.

Same tactics the Tories are using in the UK now, their deputy chairman has even admitted their record is so poor, the culture war is all they have left.

Shame that it seems to be working...

We need to start hammering them. The media clearly is unwilling or unable to do it. Every time one of those right-wing family value fuckers starts talking about this stuff yell some catchphrase at them like

"How about rent?" "What about the rising debt?" "Why isn't insulin free?".

I am going to start with my local ones.

Ding ding ding!

This is the answer right here. Conservative politicians don't give a shit about any of this but as per usual they found het another irrelevant issue that they can use to rile ou their constituents to ensure the sheep folk votes for them and against their own interests.

and all the other issues

Economy is gone, look at the cumulated inflation over the last few years. And depleting Treasury.

allowing them to get slaughtered in the classroom and raped at bible camp and forcing them to give birth,

while restricting the books they can read.

First things first.

Oops, too late!

They don't give a shit about children.

They care about people voting for them (and with that, against their own interests) and the only way to get that done is to rile these people up with irrelevant issues like drag queens. Why do you think fox news all of the sudden jumps on top of issues like this?

If people have nothing to freak out about they might look at real issues and notice that the conservative parties are working hard to thing their lives. Can't have that, so let's ruin the lives of others too by demonizing them. In the past it was the gays, this time it's the drag queens because let's face it: easy target and gays are acceptable now. Colored people and people with "funny" languages are also always a popular target for this bullshit.

I have no idea who down voted you, but here, have it back.

He's probably hoping for a protest against him with drag queens in attendance.

It's part of the Republicans' strategy to stir up trans panic and use it as a wedge issue. Drag is only tangentially connected to trans people but their voters don't know that.

Men portrayed women for thousands of years until western societies began allowing female actors join their troupes.

I mean they're already implementing what is next: Making it illegal to look/be trans in public

What’s next, ban street mimes?

I might be in favor of that one...

Who is banning such shows? Nay, why, let's all also make lap dances and pole dancing available to kids in school. Sure they are art forms and first amendment applies there too. /s

You mean happy to agree, happy to disagree. Depends on who is paying for the vacation this month.

Hmm... better outlaw dancing while we're at it.

Do you have a link? xD

It teaches children about acceptance and that they can be anything they want. Some children find it a calming environment to learn social skills because of dress up

Well, it started with libraries not having people volunteering to read to kids. And then adults who did read to kids wanted to make it fun and engaging for them, so they began dressing up in fantasy outfits and effectively cosplay. And then the gay community heard of it and likely just naturally fell into it. Some gay people grt very very excited about dressing up, doing theatrics, and drag.

I find the comparison to clowns quite helpful, as they fill a weirdly similar niche -- in most cases a performance art with clearly defined tropes, based on exaggerated makeup, carefully choreographed routines, while retaining an ability to improvise with a crowd, and of course some people have an irrational fear of them. From that perspective, it makes perfect sense to have them do the reading for kids. The makeup turns them into a cartoon character that kids find exciting; the practice with improv means children, who aren't always the best listeners, can be managed without harshing the vibe; and their general stage experience and presence helps them retain that tough crowd to get them to listen to the story.

The same as an astronaut reading a book about space or a mechanic one about cars rather then a nurse reading a book about ancient archeology. They know what they're talking about when someone asks a question when they read a book about gender or body dismorphia etc.

I can definitely see it. When I read to my kids when they were little, I’d at least do the voices and sound effects. However I would never do that in front of people I don’t know, let alone an audience. But I can see putting on a persona would help me drop that inhibition. Maybe that persona is represented by a funny hat or vest or glasses or something, or I can see drag being similar

Yeah that's where I fall as well. I'm not inherently opposed to it, it just seems like a wierd thing to exist.

Apparently 10 people think we're transphobic wrong word, uh.. dragphobic? for having this opinion too.

Yes, hopefully it would also affect those. If some people think that law could be narrowly used to oppress/repress drag performers, maybe they’ll change their mind after they see it applied consistently and it affects them.

Or I don’t know, maybe overall sexual repression is intended

Username checks out. Fuck off, fossil.

Yes, why waste so much time trying to prosecute obviously protected expression?

Do you know what goes on at drag shows or have you only been to the after hours nsfw shows?

As a parent I rather not have government tell me what is approved thing and what's not. I'm not LGBT and not interested in drag shows but honestly the whole thing is blown out of proportion.

I find it ridiculous that countries like Poland are heavily against LGBT, then the same people will turn on TV to watch cabaret (note the meaning in US is different than in Europe) and watch male comedians dressed as women for comedic effect (e.g. https://youtu.be/iM87cjLCCwI?t=63)

I'll take my kids wherever I feel appropriate. You can do the same with yours, but don't you fucking dare tell me where I can or can't take me shithead. Go live your own life and don't try to live mine

So you dont support parental rights?

Doesn't mean you get to decide how others raise their kids.

I mean, I support them and the people who perform in them, but you’re not wrong. And i think that’s the whole problem. You can simply choose not to attend or pay them no attention. It doesn’t fit Into everyone’s world view and that’s alright. But to say that you cannot do it or that it’s illegal is complety absurd and i agreee with that statement that it is petected under freedom of speech.

That's up to the parents to decide isn't it? I mean all of this supposedly started because "parental rights" somehow, even though it was parents taking their children to these shows in the first place. Once the mainstream stopped paying direct attention to it after that surface-level excuse, it was shifted to the real reason, just openly being anti-LGBTQ because the republicans hate anything that doesn't follows the Bible as they believe it should, ignoring the numerous contradictions within the damned book, and even related to similar issues.

1 Timothy 2:9-10 ESV Likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works.

I guess every woman with braids, or wearing jewelry should be getting the same treatment. I mean it's in the book too after all.

Or how about tattoos:

Leviticus 19:28 ESV You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord.

This doesn't even get into things like how the Bible explains how to buy and trade slaves.

You know, I'm starting to think this book has a lot of stuff that doesn't make sense in a modern world and should not be applied to everyone. Religious beliefs should not be forced on everyone, and with these kinds of laws the religious roots are hidden behind claims of "parental rights" or various forms of "morality", to try and hide the religious roots they come from. The moderm Republican party loves to ignore the inconvenient fact that this is not a Christian country.

Our founding fathers explicitly warned about it. Madison praised the new Constitution for keeping faith out of federal officeholding, which would welcome individuals “of every description, whether native or adoptive, whether young or old, and without regard to poverty or wealth, or to any particular profession of religious faith.”

James Madison, in the Federalist Papers, challenged the idea that religion in politics would lead men to “cooperate for their common good” and asserted instead that it would make them “vex and oppress each other.”

Or if you want to ignore that commentary as being somehow "unofficial" as it is not a government document and "only" commentary from some of the founding fathers.. how about the 1797 Treaty of Tripoli. Begun by George Washington, signed by John Adams and *ratified unanimously *by a Senate still half-filled with signers of the Constitution:

Article. 11. As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen (Muslims); and as the said States never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan (Mohammedan) nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.

The original pilgrims came here literally to escape persecution. The current Republican party is doing exactly that to anyone that believes differently than they do and falsely trying to claim it's how this country was meant to be from the very beginning.

Who gives a shit?

Let them do whatever they want. You go ahead and raise your children properly and teach them properly. They're just making it very easy for your children to beat them in every aspect of life. Why are you upset?

When those guys complain that they're having a hard life, I just laugh and remember that my preschool children know more math that a 7th grader. That's how you win in life. They're punishing themselves. No need for us to fix any of this. The more they screw up the better it's for us. Let them enjoy their anti-depressants.