The Florida Legislature is taking on drag shows, proposing the state would pull an establishment’s liquor license or file criminal charges against an adult if a minor is allowed to see a drag show in person. NBC6’s Steve Litz reports
Members of the LGBTQ+ community feel as if conservative lawmakers in Tallahassee are targeting them.
The governor and others insist they’re just trying to protect children.
The Florida Legislature is taking on drag shows, to make sure kids don’t get an up-close look. Senate Bill 1438 is called “Protection of Children,” and is sponsored by a Republican state lawmaker from Jacksonville.
The measure clears the way for the state to pull an establishment’s liquor license or file criminal charges against an adult if a child is allowed to see a drag show in person.
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It’s overreach, said Miami Beach drag show star Henry Williams.
“It is playtime for them,” said Williams, who performs under the stage name Tiffany Fantasia. “Adults are the ones that are sexualizing it, kids don’t see anything wrong with it. It is fairytale land, it is playtime for them, it is costume fun."
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Anthony Verdugo with Christian Family Coalition Florida said people who enjoy the shows need not worry.
“Drag shows are going to go on even when this bill is signed, because adults do what they want in the privacy of their lives — but don’t bring children into it, that is all that we are saying,” Verdugo said.
The bill reads, "Adult live performance means any show, exhibition, or other presentation in front of a live audience which, in whole or in part, depicts or simulates nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or specific sexual activities as those terms are defined in s. 847.001, lewd conduct, or the lewd exposure of prosthetic or imitation genitals or breasts when it … predominantly appeals to a prurient, shameful, or morbid interest.”
"It’s confusing because that is not what you see in the culture generally,” Verdugo said about drag shows. “It blurs the lines of sexual identity and gender if you want to call it that, and it raises more questions than answers in that child’s mind."
The proposal is in line with Gov. Ron Desantis’s conservative agenda and his position that drag shows are not appropriate for kids.
The item comes with confusion as current state law permits a parent to bring their child to a drag show.
“If I am singing ‘I Am What I Am’ or I am singing, who knows, something Whitney Houston or Mariah Carey, it is not sexual, it is not sexual,” Williams said. “And if that is the case all art should be stopped.”
