Why are Republicans so obsessed with drag queens right now?

[Associate Justice PiT]

If Dems provided a more moderate solution of saying that exposing children to non-sexual drag was okay but the strictly adult performances should be off-limits,

This is our opinion. I am not aware of any prominent person saying otherwise, and even if you can cherrypick one, I can assure you that 95%+ of Dems would disagree. By contrast, the Republican standard line seems to be that all drag is inherently sexual and such a distinction does not and cannot exist.

     As proof of your statement, I kindly ask you to post a few of the bills to ban exposing children to sexual drag content that are being proposed by Dem legislators. Given that 95% of Dems support banning these things, I am sure you have no shortage of examples.

[7,052,770]

If Dems provided a more moderate solution of saying that exposing children to non-sexual drag was okay but the strictly adult performances should be off-limits,

This is our opinion. I am not aware of any prominent person saying otherwise, and even if you can cherrypick one, I can assure you that 95%+ of Dems would disagree. By contrast, the Republican standard line seems to be that all drag is inherently sexual and such a distinction does not and cannot exist.

     As proof of your statement, I kindly ask you to post a few of the bills to ban exposing children to sexual drag content that are being proposed by Dem legislators. Given that 95% of Dems support banning these things, I am sure you have no shortage of examples.

I really thought you were going to dig up an example of some "literally who?" nobody saying it's ok to show kids sexual drag as some kind of ultimate ownage of me. But somehow you have even less than that.

Just because any political party isn't on the record banning every hypothetical bad thing that someone can dream up, doesn't imply that they actually support the hypothetical bad thing.

[Associate Justice PiT]

If Dems provided a more moderate solution of saying that exposing children to non-sexual drag was okay but the strictly adult performances should be off-limits,

This is our opinion. I am not aware of any prominent person saying otherwise, and even if you can cherrypick one, I can assure you that 95%+ of Dems would disagree. By contrast, the Republican standard line seems to be that all drag is inherently sexual and such a distinction does not and cannot exist.

     As proof of your statement, I kindly ask you to post a few of the bills to ban exposing children to sexual drag content that are being proposed by Dem legislators. Given that 95% of Dems support banning these things, I am sure you have no shortage of examples.

I really thought you were going to dig up an example of some "literally who?" nobody saying it's ok to show kids sexual drag as some kind of ultimate ownage of me. But somehow you have even less than that.

Just because any political party isn't on the record banning every hypothetical bad thing that someone can dream up, doesn't imply that they actually support the hypothetical bad thing.

     "Hypothetical" bad thing.

[Mr. Reactionary]

Yes, it is the Republicans who are injecting sexualized burlesque cabaret adult entertainment into everything.

Drag performances can be sexually suggestive, but drag is not at all inherently sexual.

Since when? Ive never seen it described as NOT adult entertainment.

This is what I mean by the left dying on a very strange hill. It's true that "drag" in the most literal sense of cross-dressing is not at all inherently sexual, but we're not talking about Mrs. Doubtfire here. That's not the kind of drag that's being attacked or defended in these conversations. It's the burlesque, adult entertainment type of drag that we're talking about and everyone knows it.

It doesn't even make sense to me why we're defending it. It doesn't need to be advocated for at all. If parents want their kids to participate in the drag queen story hour then that's 100% their first amendment right. If that drives conservatives to suicide then so be it. Left-leaning politicians have no reason to defend it or comment on it in any way. It's beyond irrelevant and it gives conservatives an easy culture war win when they do.

The thing is, it is people who we are talking about. I felt compelled to answer because I have some foot in the queer community and I am friends with a few people who do drag, some quite successfully. One can certainly debate about age-appropriateness. But there are now direct attacks involved -"grooming" "perverted adults "sexualisation of minors;" one of the links that Mr R posted puts drag queens in schools in the context of sexual abuse, another talks about "LGBT indoctrination." Language like this, directed at people, crosses a line. I don't see this as a legislative priority either; I find this whole discussion stupid and I didn't start. But I don't buy it that one should leave such personal attacks uncommented--because we are talking about innocent people, and these attacks WILL stick.

The easiest way to avoid "personal attacks" is to not perform for literal children. There is not a single good reason why schools need to host this anymore than they need to host strippers or porn actors. There is not a single good reason why we need to host book reading events for small children hosted by adult entertainers. There is not a single good reason literal bars should be admitting children for the purpose of watching this kind of "entertainment". There is not a single good reason children should be at parades where dragqueens ride on a phallus float tossing bottles of lube to the crowd. If you dont want this association between drag and the G word, the easiest solution is to not have them do their thing around kids.

So I can direct ANY attack at a group of people if I have the vague idea that one of that cohort might have done something wrong. Very cool and normal!

Duh. Have u ever read a Rhuneghost post on here? 1 in 10 comments in USGD are some variation of "all republicans are racist nazi fascist terrorists".

[7,052,770]

If Dems provided a more moderate solution of saying that exposing children to non-sexual drag was okay but the strictly adult performances should be off-limits,

This is our opinion. I am not aware of any prominent person saying otherwise, and even if you can cherrypick one, I can assure you that 95%+ of Dems would disagree. By contrast, the Republican standard line seems to be that all drag is inherently sexual and such a distinction does not and cannot exist.

     As proof of your statement, I kindly ask you to post a few of the bills to ban exposing children to sexual drag content that are being proposed by Dem legislators. Given that 95% of Dems support banning these things, I am sure you have no shortage of examples.

I really thought you were going to dig up an example of some "literally who?" nobody saying it's ok to show kids sexual drag as some kind of ultimate ownage of me. But somehow you have even less than that.

Just because any political party isn't on the record banning every hypothetical bad thing that someone can dream up, doesn't imply that they actually support the hypothetical bad thing.

     "Hypothetical" bad thing.

If that story is true, not exaggerated or misconstrued, etc., and the parents knew exactly what was going to be going on there, that it was pretty poor parenting to take a young child there, and that the vast majority of Democrats would agree with me. I wouldn't take my child to an R-rated movie, a strip club, or any kind of overtly sexual show, drag otherwise.

[OSR stands with Israel]

If something is not happening outside a few bad apples than you should have no problem banning it cause by your definition not much would change. By calling the side who wants to ban it bigots then by definition you are implying your side has something to hide which is why the spin of "This isnt happening but you are a bigot if you oppose it" has failed miserably

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Yes, it is the Republicans who are injecting sexualized burlesque cabaret adult entertainment into everything.

Drag performances can be sexually suggestive, but drag is not at all inherently sexual.

Since when? Ive never seen it described as NOT adult entertainment.

This is what I mean by the left dying on a very strange hill. It's true that "drag" in the most literal sense of cross-dressing is not at all inherently sexual, but we're not talking about Mrs. Doubtfire here. That's not the kind of drag that's being attacked or defended in these conversations. It's the burlesque, adult entertainment type of drag that we're talking about and everyone knows it.

It doesn't even make sense to me why we're defending it. It doesn't need to be advocated for at all. If parents want their kids to participate in the drag queen story hour then that's 100% their first amendment right. If that drives conservatives to suicide then so be it. Left-leaning politicians have no reason to defend it or comment on it in any way. It's beyond irrelevant and it gives conservatives an easy culture war win when they do.

So basically in the words of Peter Griffin, " who cares ?? "

Basically. But even that doesn't need to be said. If no one on the left spared a word for drag queen story hour then it wouldn't be a "battle" at all. It would just be another conservative outrage of the week and then everyone would forget about it.

If only that were true.

Proud Boys Disrupt Drag Queen Story Hour at Public Library: Sheriff

The incident began around 1:30 p.m. at the San Lorenzo Library in Alameda County, California. Members of the notorious right-wing white nationalist organization stormed the event being hosted by the group, Drag Queen Story Hour, which organizes family-friendly readings hosted by drag queens all over the country.

The members, some wearing shirts with AK-47s on them, yelled out numerous homophobic and transphobic slurs, and accused the event's hosts of being "pedophiles." Alameda County Sheriff's Lieutenant Ray Kelly confirmed the incident to a local reporter, Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez, explaining that the individuals were escorted out of the library by deputies.

Drag Queen Story Hour Canceled After Threats On Social Media

The Carnegie Library and the Children's Museum have both canceled the Drag Queen Story Hour after threats posted on social media.

Galveston drag queen story time event canceled due to safety concerns

Galveston’s Own Farmers Market canceled a drag queen story time planned for Sunday, the latest such event to be called off for safety concerns.

Town Cancels Drag Queen Story Hour Pride Event After Threats of Violence

A North Carolina town has canceled a planned drag event after receiving threats of violence on social media.

The town of Apex, North Carolina, had been planning to host a Drag Queen Story Hour as part of the "kid's zone" for its upcoming Pride Festival on Saturday. Over the weekend, however, Mayor Jacques Gilbert announced on his Facebook page that the event was being called off. Gilbert claimed in the post that the Apex Festival Commission had made the decision after "careful consideration" of "feedback" he had received from town residents.


Town Council Member Audra Killingsworth commented on Gilbert's post, saying that the town had received numerous complaints about the event leading up to the festival, and that recently they escalated to full-on threats of violence, The News-Observer reported.

Republicans regularly advocate and threaten violence, and the only consequence those inciting the violence face is free media attention and more support from conservatives. It's a positive feedback cycle pushing the right  in a terrible direction. How long before Republicans succeed at inciting a mass shooting at one of these events? We need to stop giving Republicans a pass for encouraging stuff like this, and hold them to account for what they're advocating: terrorism.

[7,052,770]

If something is not happening outside a few bad apples than you should have no problem banning it cause by your definition not much would change. By calling the side who wants to ban it bigots then by definition you are implying your side has something to hide which is why the spin of "This isnt happening but you are a bigot if you oppose it" has failed miserably

I fundamentally do not trust your party to only ban the bad stuff and not just use it as an excuse to go after LGBT people I  general. Your side's behavior has more than fully justified my skepticism of the true motivations behind anything.

[Mr. Reactionary]

If Dems provided a more moderate solution of saying that exposing children to non-sexual drag was okay but the strictly adult performances should be off-limits,

This is our opinion. I am not aware of any prominent person saying otherwise, and even if you can cherrypick one, I can assure you that 95%+ of Dems would disagree. By contrast, the Republican standard line seems to be that all drag is inherently sexual and such a distinction does not and cannot exist.

     As proof of your statement, I kindly ask you to post a few of the bills to ban exposing children to sexual drag content that are being proposed by Dem legislators. Given that 95% of Dems support banning these things, I am sure you have no shortage of examples.

I really thought you were going to dig up an example of some "literally who?" nobody saying it's ok to show kids sexual drag as some kind of ultimate ownage of me. But somehow you have even less than that.

Just because any political party isn't on the record banning every hypothetical bad thing that someone can dream up, doesn't imply that they actually support the hypothetical bad thing.

     "Hypothetical" bad thing.

Some more examples

https://wset.com/news/nation-world/had-them-kids-losing-it-drag-queen-named-nikki-jizz-flouts-performance-at-middle-school

https://wset.com/news/nation-world/dc-public-schools-invite-lgbtqia-students-to-drag-performances-for-pride-month

https://www.theblaze.com/news/ankeny-iowa-hs-drag-show

https://www.them.us/story/a-high-school-gsa-adviser-has-been-put-on-leave-for-hosting-a-drag-show

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/leaked-photos-and-videos-show-lgbt-clubs-after-hours-drag-show-at-pa-high-school

https://go2tutors.com/school-drag-show-apology/

[7,052,770]

If Dems provided a more moderate solution of saying that exposing children to non-sexual drag was okay but the strictly adult performances should be off-limits,

This is our opinion. I am not aware of any prominent person saying otherwise, and even if you can cherrypick one, I can assure you that 95%+ of Dems would disagree. By contrast, the Republican standard line seems to be that all drag is inherently sexual and such a distinction does not and cannot exist.

     As proof of your statement, I kindly ask you to post a few of the bills to ban exposing children to sexual drag content that are being proposed by Dem legislators. Given that 95% of Dems support banning these things, I am sure you have no shortage of examples.

I really thought you were going to dig up an example of some "literally who?" nobody saying it's ok to show kids sexual drag as some kind of ultimate ownage of me. But somehow you have even less than that.

Just because any political party isn't on the record banning every hypothetical bad thing that someone can dream up, doesn't imply that they actually support the hypothetical bad thing.

     "Hypothetical" bad thing.

Some more examples

https://wset.com/news/nation-world/had-them-kids-losing-it-drag-queen-named-nikki-jizz-flouts-performance-at-middle-school

https://wset.com/news/nation-world/dc-public-schools-invite-lgbtqia-students-to-drag-performances-for-pride-month

https://www.theblaze.com/news/ankeny-iowa-hs-drag-show

https://www.them.us/story/a-high-school-gsa-adviser-has-been-put-on-leave-for-hosting-a-drag-show

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/leaked-photos-and-videos-show-lgbt-clubs-after-hours-drag-show-at-pa-high-school

https://go2tutors.com/school-drag-show-apology/

Not only are most of those high schools, they would also generally be classified as acceptable under PIT's "compromise" anyway.

[Associate Justice PiT]

If something is not happening outside a few bad apples than you should have no problem banning it cause by your definition not much would change. By calling the side who wants to ban it bigots then by definition you are implying your side has something to hide which is why the spin of "This isnt happening but you are a bigot if you oppose it" has failed miserably

I fundamentally do not trust your party to only ban the bad stuff and not just use it as an excuse to go after LGBT people I  general. Your side's behavior has more than fully justified my skepticism of the true motivations behind anything.

     Which is why it would make more sense for Dems to take the charge and push for an authentically liberal vision of protecting children. It would be a great way to turn it into a winning issue for the left. I commend you for saying that the event, if portrayed accurately, was something that never should have happened. Bear in mind though that Scott Wiener tweet I posted was in response to a Texas lawmaker who proposed a bill in response to this very event. If people are to believe that Democrats have a serious and constructive response, they should demonstrate it instead of trolling. Probably the biggest reason why this issue is so salient with the right on the internet at the moment is that the left is bungling their messaging here.

[Mr. Reactionary]

So I can direct ANY attack at a group of people if I have the vague idea that one of that cohort might have done something wrong. Very cool and normal!

Republicans regularly advocate and threaten violence, and the only consequence those inciting the violence face is free media attention and more support from conservatives. It's a positive feedback cycle pushing the right  in a terrible direction. How long before Republicans succeed at inciting a mass shooting at one of these events? We need to stop giving Republicans a pass for encouraging stuff like this, and hold them to account for what they're advocating: terrorism.

[Hindsight was 2020]

If something is not happening outside a few bad apples than you should have no problem banning it cause by your definition not much would change. By calling the side who wants to ban it bigots then by definition you are implying your side has something to hide which is why the spin of "This isnt happening but you are a bigot if you oppose it" has failed miserably

OSR why do you constantly ignore the fact that be it the policy pushed by republicans show they mean to target gay people in general and a lot of this drag show outrage is bad faith cover? Like you don’t get to hand wave off the Texas law as something you don’t support but then attack the leftist posters were worried about the actual endgame of all this as hysteria

[DaleCooper]

If something is not happening outside a few bad apples than you should have no problem banning it cause by your definition not much would change. By calling the side who wants to ban it bigots then by definition you are implying your side has something to hide which is why the spin of "This isnt happening but you are a bigot if you oppose it" has failed miserably

Banning drag queen events would violate the First Amendment.

[DaleCooper]

If Dems provided a more moderate solution of saying that exposing children to non-sexual drag was okay but the strictly adult performances should be off-limits,

This is our opinion. I am not aware of any prominent person saying otherwise, and even if you can cherrypick one, I can assure you that 95%+ of Dems would disagree. By contrast, the Republican standard line seems to be that all drag is inherently sexual and such a distinction does not and cannot exist.

     As proof of your statement, I kindly ask you to post a few of the bills to ban exposing children to sexual drag content that are being proposed by Dem legislators. Given that 95% of Dems support banning these things, I am sure you have no shortage of examples.

Again, violation of the First Amendment.

[7,052,770]

If something is not happening outside a few bad apples than you should have no problem banning it cause by your definition not much would change. By calling the side who wants to ban it bigots then by definition you are implying your side has something to hide which is why the spin of "This isnt happening but you are a bigot if you oppose it" has failed miserably

I fundamentally do not trust your party to only ban the bad stuff and not just use it as an excuse to go after LGBT people I  general. Your side's behavior has more than fully justified my skepticism of the true motivations behind anything.

     Which is why it would make more sense for Dems to take the charge and push for an authentically liberal vision of protecting children. It would be a great way to turn it into a winning issue for the left. I commend you for saying that the event, if portrayed accurately, was something that never should have happened. Bear in mind though that Scott Wiener tweet I posted was in response to a Texas lawmaker who proposed a bill in response to this very event. If people are to believe that Democrats have a serious and constructive response, they should demonstrate it instead of trolling. Probably the biggest reason why this issue is so salient with the right on the internet at the moment is that the left is bungling their messaging here.

I just don't think this problem is significant or widespread enough to warrant Democrats focusing time on this

[OSR stands with Israel]

If something is not happening outside a few bad apples than you should have no problem banning it cause by your definition not much would change. By calling the side who wants to ban it bigots then by definition you are implying your side has something to hide which is why the spin of "This isnt happening but you are a bigot if you oppose it" has failed miserably

Banning drag queen events would violate the First Amendment.

Sure if the ban applied to adults too. I think Porn for example should be banned for anyone under 18 as well

[Mr. Reactionary]

If something is not happening outside a few bad apples than you should have no problem banning it cause by your definition not much would change. By calling the side who wants to ban it bigots then by definition you are implying your side has something to hide which is why the spin of "This isnt happening but you are a bigot if you oppose it" has failed miserably

Banning drag queen events would violate the First Amendment.

I disagree. Kids being involved changes the rules. Otherwise lawful speech can be obscene as to minors and restricted around kids. Selling porn is legal, selling porn to kids is not. Dirty movies are legal, allowing kids in to dirty movies usually is not. So drag shows are protected speech, until kids are in the picture.

https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/966/harmful-to-minors-laws

[DaleCooper]

If something is not happening outside a few bad apples than you should have no problem banning it cause by your definition not much would change. By calling the side who wants to ban it bigots then by definition you are implying your side has something to hide which is why the spin of "This isnt happening but you are a bigot if you oppose it" has failed miserably

Banning drag queen events would violate the First Amendment.

I disagree. Kids being involved changes the rules. Otherwise lawful speech can be obscene as to minors and restricted around kids. Selling porn is legal, selling porn to kids is not. Dirty movies are legal, allowing kids in to dirty movies usually is not. So drag shows are protected speech, until kids are in the picture.

https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/966/harmful-to-minors-laws

These events do not meet the standard of obscenity based on any legal understanding of that word in at least 50 or 60 years.

[MRS DONNA SHALALA]

If Dems provided a more moderate solution of saying that exposing children to non-sexual drag was okay but the strictly adult performances should be off-limits,

This is our opinion. I am not aware of any prominent person saying otherwise, and even if you can cherrypick one, I can assure you that 95%+ of Dems would disagree. By contrast, the Republican standard line seems to be that all drag is inherently sexual and such a distinction does not and cannot exist.

     As proof of your statement, I kindly ask you to post a few of the bills to ban exposing children to sexual drag content that are being proposed by Dem legislators. Given that 95% of Dems support banning these things, I am sure you have no shortage of examples.

I really thought you were going to dig up an example of some "literally who?" nobody saying it's ok to show kids sexual drag as some kind of ultimate ownage of me. But somehow you have even less than that.

Just because any political party isn't on the record banning every hypothetical bad thing that someone can dream up, doesn't imply that they actually support the hypothetical bad thing.

     "Hypothetical" bad thing.

a) this seems like a voluntary thing that parents opted to take their kids to, blame the parents if you want to whine about this.
b) none of what happened looks particularly bad? The sign is probably the worst thing about this, and even that's just innuendo. Any PG-13 movie is gonna have more offensive stuff than this.

[Mr. Reactionary]

If something is not happening outside a few bad apples than you should have no problem banning it cause by your definition not much would change. By calling the side who wants to ban it bigots then by definition you are implying your side has something to hide which is why the spin of "This isnt happening but you are a bigot if you oppose it" has failed miserably

I fundamentally do not trust your party to only ban the bad stuff and not just use it as an excuse to go after LGBT people I  general. Your side's behavior has more than fully justified my skepticism of the true motivations behind anything.

     Which is why it would make more sense for Dems to take the charge and push for an authentically liberal vision of protecting children. It would be a great way to turn it into a winning issue for the left. I commend you for saying that the event, if portrayed accurately, was something that never should have happened. Bear in mind though that Scott Wiener tweet I posted was in response to a Texas lawmaker who proposed a bill in response to this very event. If people are to believe that Democrats have a serious and constructive response, they should demonstrate it instead of trolling. Probably the biggest reason why this issue is so salient with the right on the internet at the moment is that the left is bungling their messaging here.

I just don't think this problem is significant or widespread enough to warrant Democrats focusing time on this

Does that mean no affirmative support as well? Because a lot of what is being complained about, specifically performances at public schools and public libraries, are taxpayer funded. Youd have a much stronger case if the objectionable content wasnt being provided by the government in the first place. NYC for example spent $200K to hire dragqueens to go to public libraries. Like, if the Dems are just going to "stay out of it" they shouldnt support its funding.

[DaleCooper]

If something is not happening outside a few bad apples than you should have no problem banning it cause by your definition not much would change. By calling the side who wants to ban it bigots then by definition you are implying your side has something to hide which is why the spin of "This isnt happening but you are a bigot if you oppose it" has failed miserably

Banning drag queen events would violate the First Amendment.

I disagree. Kids being involved changes the rules. Otherwise lawful speech can be obscene as to minors and restricted around kids. Selling porn is legal, selling porn to kids is not. Dirty movies are legal, allowing kids in to dirty movies usually is not. So drag shows are protected speech, until kids are in the picture.

https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/966/harmful-to-minors-laws

The harmful to minors label is reserved for explicit sexual content, usually for actual unsimulated sex scenes. None of that is happening in these shows, regardless of how distasteful they are. Besides, it isn't the drag that would make such a situation obscene anyway. The type of nanny statism that you and the two blue avatars are advocating for would be the end of the first amendment. There really does come a point where you just have to accept that not everyone raises their children the way you want them to.

[Del Tachi]

Drag is not obscene or inherently sexual.  But that doesn't mean schools or public libraries should be putting on drag performances for young kids.

Moderate hero option?

[Mr. Reactionary]

If something is not happening outside a few bad apples than you should have no problem banning it cause by your definition not much would change. By calling the side who wants to ban it bigots then by definition you are implying your side has something to hide which is why the spin of "This isnt happening but you are a bigot if you oppose it" has failed miserably

Banning drag queen events would violate the First Amendment.

I disagree. Kids being involved changes the rules. Otherwise lawful speech can be obscene as to minors and restricted around kids. Selling porn is legal, selling porn to kids is not. Dirty movies are legal, allowing kids in to dirty movies usually is not. So drag shows are protected speech, until kids are in the picture.

https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/966/harmful-to-minors-laws

The harmful to minors label is reserved for explicit sexual content, usually for actual unsimulated sex scenes. None of that is happening in these shows, regardless of how distasteful they are. Besides, it isn't the drag that would make such a situation obscene anyway. The type of nanny statism that you and the two blue avatars are advocating for would be the end of the first amendment. There really does come a point where you just have to accept that not everyone raises their children the way you want them to.

Most of the federal cases upholding the obscene as to minors doctrine dealt with written books without pictures. Nude or semi nude dancing is subject to prohibition. Like, the vids that are making the rounds and inspiring the backlash are semi nude drag queens thrusting and dirty dancing on stage, occasionally with sex toys. You can easily ban that around kids.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Drag is not obscene or inherently sexual.  But that doesn't mean schools or public libraries should be putting on drag performances for young kids.

Moderate hero option?

Why shouldn’t they, if it’s not obscene or sexual? What’s the problem with it?