AUSTIN — A Texas Senate committee on Monday approved two bills that would restrict, and at times criminalize, drag performances along partisan lines.
The Texas Committee on State Affairs on Monday passed Senate Bill 12 and Senate Bill 1601 by a vote of 6-2. The bills will now head to the full Senate for more debate. If passed, they would need to pass the House and be signed by the governor to become laws.
Senate Bill 12 criminalizes performances by a man exhibiting as a woman, or vice versa, in front of a minor or in a public space if it “appeals to the prurient interest in sex.”
Violators could be charged with a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail, a $4,000 fine or both. The bill would also let the state assess fines against businesses that allow minors to attend these “prurient” performances.
Senate Bill 1601 would bar public funds from going to municipal libraries that allow drag performers to read books to minors if “the person being dressed as the opposite gender is a primary component of the entertainment.” It does not require the event to appeal to the “prurient interest.”
The committee debated the bills last week; public testimony was about 5-1 against with members of the arts, business, drag and LGBTQ advocacy communities opposed. Sen. Bryan Hughes, a Mineola Republican and the bills’ author, says his intention is to protect children from sexual performances.
As drag shows have become more popular in mainstream popular culture, they have come under greater fire by conservatives who do not want children to be able to attend. Like most any form of entertainment, drag can be raunchy or PG, playful or political. Comedy, lip-syncing and dancing are common. Drag performers can be gay or straight, cisgender or transgender.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Republican who leads the Senate, prioritized Senate Bill 12 and three other bills that advocates say would negatively affect the LGBTQ community. The legislative session ends May 29.
