Though a Tennessee law restricting drag performances in public spaces was recently declared unconstitutional by a federal judge, that’s not stopping the anti-drag bill trend from sweeping the country. In May, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) signed the state’s anti-drag bill into law, the first state to ban people dressed in drag from reading to children in schools.
Straight Arrow News contributor Adrienne Lawrence argues these misguided bills are enacted to instill fear, and distract from the real issues threatening our children.
These attacks on drag shows are really just transphobia packaged up as protecting children. And by way of this agenda, those in power keep greater control of the masses. Because hey, if you’re busy focusing on a non-issue like a drag pageant festival, you won’t be challenging lax gun laws. That’s right. Despite knowing that gun deaths are the number one killer of children in the United States, if you’re tied up in trepidation over the occasional trans girl in the girls bathroom, you’re ignoring the sexual abusers in houses of worship, police departments and other positions of power.
Less than 2% of our nation is openly transgender, and the vast majority of trans people are not in positions of power. So where is the threat? It’s exhausting watching people continuously believe that they need to be running from some non-existent fear concocted by the 1% and the 1% adjacent. Yet here we are in 2023, welcoming in June, with just as much collective common sense as a 246-year-old nation unnecessarily clinging to faux puritanical notions of sexuality and gender identity rooted in good old-fashioned white supremacy and colonialism.
Pride spawned from a rebellion led by Black and Brown trans and gender-nonconforming voices. They took to the streets in the late 60s to fight against white domination and its underlying ideologies that denied full humanity to any non-white non-cishet person. That fight still goes on today and it seems to be getting bigger than ever.
Our nation should be focused on protecting our children from actual threats, and preserving our future from imminent threats. To that end, I implore upon you this Pride month to use your reason and your voice. Let’s focus on the real issues, hold our leaders accountable for addressing those issues and mandate meaningful change. This Pride, let’s reshape our nation to one that we can all be proud of.
