Along with other bills aimed at the rights of the LGBTQ+ community, Montana has become the first state to explicitly forbid drag queens from reading books to kids in public schools and libraries.
Florida and Tennessee have proposed legislation that would seem to outlaw drag reading gatherings, albeit the nature of the performances is left vague. Both laws have been challenged in court.
First State to Ban Drag Reading Events
While similar laws exist in other states, AP News said Montana's statute is unusual. Reportedly, it does not need a sexual aspect to be banned from characterizing as an event sponsored by a drag king or drag queen who reads children's books to minors.
According to Sasha Buchert, an attorney with Lambda Legal, a national group that fights for the rights of the LGBTQ+ community and individuals living with HIV and AIDS, Montana's legislation is the first to prohibit drag reading events.
"It's just constitutionally suspect on all levels," Buchert said on Tuesday, May 23, referring to the bill's restrictions on free speech and its attempts to stifle an initiative that lets transgender youth know they are not alone.
Rationale for Adopting the Legislation
On Monday, May 22, Republican Governor Greg Gianforte signed the bill into law. It had been co-sponsored by more than half of the legislature's Republican members.
According to spokeswoman Kaitlin Price, Gianforte signed the measure because he thinks it is improper for young children, particularly preschoolers and elementary school students, to be exposed to sexualized information.
There was an attempt to make it illegal for kids to attend drag shows because they might "excite lustful thoughts." In a subsequent amendment, it was made illegal for children to attend any sex-related or obscene performances on public grounds, as reported by AP News.
The bill's Republican proponent, Representative Braxton Mitchell, said he was compelled to introduce it after seeing internet recordings of youngsters attending drag acts.
Previously, Mitchell already said there is no such thing as a family-friendly drag show.
Meanwhile, those in the drag community who argued against the bill cited the fact that they conduct different shows for children.
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Drag Events in Montana
Both ZooMontana in Billings and a bookshop in downtown Helena hosted drag reading sessions in 2022. Both occurrences sparked protests, but the proposed legislation would not prohibit either. Protesters also showed up to an event sponsored at a bookshop in Bozeman over the weekend.
A drag performer in Great Falls, Montana, known as "Julie Yard," who helps arrange to drag reading activities, claims that no public or private school has ever requested her to organize one. In the next months, there will be between 6 and 10 events happening around the state.
Yard said summer is the peak request time for drag story hours. They often fall on the same weekend as Pride events.
