Texas Senate Committee Passes Bills Banning Drag Performances in Front of Children

Screenshot from video posted on social media of a June 4, 2022, drag show at a gay bar in Dallas—billed as "family friendly"—where children were encouraged to participate in the performance and to give the performers money. Courtesy of Tayler Hansen

The Texas Senate Committee on State Affairs passed two bills restricting drag queen performances in the presence of children.

The bills passed in a vote of 6–2 on March 27.

Senate Bill 12 would restrict sexually-oriented performances, including drag shows, on public property or businesses where children are present (pdf). The other bill, Senate Bill 1601, would deny public funding to libraries that host drag story hours for children (pdf).

“All of us can agree that children shouldn’t be exposed to sexually explicit material,” said Republican state Sen. Bryan Hughes, who authored the pair of bills, during a committee hearing on March 23. “This material can take various forms and print and visual media, as well as live performances.”

The bills will head to the full Senate for further debate. If passed, the bills would need House approval before being sent to the governor’s desk for a signature.

Senate Bill 12

Unlike similar bills calling for a ban on drag performances in the presence of children, SB 12 is not limited to drag shows.

“Drag shows today may be replaced by other types of harmful performances in the future,” Hughes wrote in a statement of intent for the bill. “[SB 12] applies to and will protect children from sexually oriented performances in general.”

The bill defines sexually oriented performances as those that include nudity or a male performer exhibiting as female, or vice versa, who sings, lip syncs, dances, or otherwise performs in front of an audience or appeals to the “prurient interest in sex.”

The bill also creates criminal penalties for business owners who host so-called “family-friendly drag shows” or other performances as described in the bill.

Violators could face charges for a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $10,000, or both.

Senate Bill 1601

Over the last several years, public libraries across the nation, including Texas, have hosted “Drag Queen Story Hour” events for children.

“A municipal library may not receive state funds if the library hosts an event at which a man presenting as a woman or a woman presenting as a man reads a book or story to a minor for entertainment and the person being dressed as the opposite gender is a primary component of the entertainment,” Senate Bill 1601 reads.

Witness Testimony

Supporters of the proposed legislation testified that this type of explicit exposure is harmful to children and that they should be protected from all sexually oriented entertainment.

Ed Fox, director of education at Good Shepherd Baptist Church in Grand Prairie, Texas, testified to the Senate Committee on State Affairs that he was exposed to sexually oriented entertainment at a young age, and “it has affected my life for decades.”

“This really should not be something that minors should be subjected to under any circumstance,” Fox continued. “It’s almost ridiculous that we’ve had to have this conversation because it’s common sense. Children should not be exposed at an early age. It can have bad effects, and so I am personally a witness to that.”

Another witness testified that children are sometimes asked to participate with the drag queens.

“There are videos of young children putting dollar bills in underwear and children being asked to strut or dance just like the drag queens,” said Mary Elizabeth Castle, director of government relations at Texas Values Action.

“It’s exposing kids to very sexual content at an early age, which research has proven time and time again leads to a lot of issues later in life, including becoming violent, ... problems with intimacy and even dysfunction later in life.”

Others testified that the bills are too vague and may also be a violation of the First Amendment.

“This could ensnare and create statewide gender police, which goes far beyond drag to actually criminalizing anyone,” said Brian Klosterboer, attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. “Whether it’s a man singing a song by Dolly Parton, whether it’s a trans or nonbinary person simply performing and being who they are.”

Callie Butcher, president of the Dallas LGBT Bar Association, said the bills are “about silencing the queer community.”

“I’m disappointed because I have to believe that each of you understands that there’s no problem that needs solving here,” Butcher told the committee. “The answer to this supposed issue is simple—if you don’t want your child to go to a drag show, don’t take them.”

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has prioritized Senate Bill 12, along with two other bills aimed at protecting children from obscene books in libraries and ending child gender modification.