A new bill drafted by Oklahoma state Rep. Kevin West and introduced to the state House on Thursday would ban all drag performances that “could be viewed by a person under the age of majority.”
The bill would outright ban Drag Queen Story Hours for children. But the bill’s wording is so broad that it would also ban female performers from adopting “flamboyant … female personas.”
The bill would make it illegal for “a male or female performer” to adopt “a flamboyant or parodic feminine persona with glamorous or exaggerated costumes and makeup.” Violations would be punishable by imprisonment for more than thirty days and a fine of up to $20,000.
So basically, the bill would outlaw the character Mimi of the Drew Carey show, famous for her exaggerated makeup and blue eyeshadow.
Like many such proposed bills, the legislation defines any drag performance–including sitting and reading a book to children–as an “adult cabaret performance” equivalent to a strip show.
So would Oklahoma TV stations running reruns of the Drew Carey show be subject to this law? After all, they do feature a female performer adopting a “flamboyant or parodic feminine persona with glamorous or exaggerated costumes and makeup.” And since the reruns are on TV, any child could watch them. What of a video store (if there are any of those still around) renting or selling DVDs of the Drew Carey show? How about Absolutely Fabulous? Patsy’s pretty over the top with her “feminine persona.” Where does this all end? Will watching Mrs. Doutfire, with an actual male drag queen, become a capital offense?
There are a number of bills like this being introduced in state houses across the country by Republicans. It would all be hilarious if it weren’t so serious.
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Almost: she was still in the Army Air Forces Intelligence when they married; they were both invited to join the CIA later. She left after a few years, while he stayed on several years more and according to Wikipedia was a Director involved in directly briefing the President.
I got diverted for a couple of days but
@Crip Dyke, thanks for that really informative response.
@Oogly, that’s fantastic news, and so well deserved.
Good to know I’m illegal in OK! And so are lots of other people I know.
I’m not a trans person, but I am a female performer and I’m very flamboyant… dear goddess, these people can’t handle not being in total control of everything and everyone…
This is just so fucking horrifying…
It WOULD be serious… if any of this legislation was going to be passed in the states that actually matter. Oklahoma is a relic, an artifact from the days of America as an agrarian superpower. Anyone still living there who isn’t a Trump-sucking idiot voting against their own interests needs to up sticks and haul ass to someplace that touches salt-water, Canada or a major metropolitan area.
Rural America is no country for our kind.
Expensive, and not everyone has the money.
Expensive.
Not everyone has a passport. And I’m not sure how easy it is to emigrate to Canada.
Unaffordably expensive. It’s not even possible to rent a bachelor pad in a major metropolitan area anymore unless you have a six-figure white collar job or so. Which you almost certainly don’t if you don’t already live in one. Even with an advanced degree, these days trying to land such a job is a lottery at best, and then there’s the chicken-and-egg problem where you need the job to be able to afford to move there, but need to already live there to commute to the job …