Amidst the flurry of orders attacking minority communities and cuts to the services they utilize, an Iowa legislature subcommittee is advancing a bill that attempts to broadly define what constitutes drag and criminalize its performance and performers.
Last Tuesday House Study Bill 158 was introduced and defines a drag show as a performance where the “Performer exhibits a gender identity that is different from the performer’s gender assigned at birth through the use of clothing, makeup, accessories, or other gender signifiers.” This is open to include the performance of singing, dancing, reading, and almost anything “Before an audience for entertainment.”
This proposal not only directly attacks the lives of queer individuals, but opens the door for the censoring of arts. Venues and artists worry that entertainment like theater, film, along with religious or traditional dress may make them open to liability and persecution from the state. With the wording of this law, it effectively limits trans people from performing in any public matter.
Any parent who knowingly brings a minor to a drag performance can be charged with a Class D felony and charged up to $50,000 for each violation. The owner or manager of an establishment who knowingly allows minors to attend drag shows could also be charged with a Class D felony, and businesses could be fined $10,000 under the bill.
Lawmakers like Representative Helena Hayes, a Republican from New Sharon, have commented that the bill addresses the concerns of their respective constituencies and that it “Will not be the way it is right now,” as it makes its way through the legislature. They both supported the bill’s existing definition and voted to have it be moved to a general house vote.
Representative Elinor Levin, a Democrat from Iowa City, told the Des Moines Register, “This bill creates a penalty that is so disproportionate as to be almost laughable,” and is “Out of whack,” considering the existing laws in Iowa classify bringing children to events with obscene material is only a misdemeanor.
Protesters gathered at the capitol outside the subcommittee to make themselves heard and demonstrate the violence they felt, and the hypocrisy of the legislature proposals.
This bill is being proposed in tandem with Iowa City’s Free Week, a week long private-public cooperation that provides entertainment and public art for free largely in the city’s downtown district. This included drag shows at local LGBTQ bar and venue Studio 13.
In a public statement, an executive of the venue said, “It’s important to voice your opposition to this bill. Though our venues only allow those over 19 or 21 it would eliminate all ages drag performances, drag at Pride, drag brunches in many locations, drag story time and more, and is a clear violation of free speech. Not to mention the chilling effect this would have on the transgender community. Drag is art and has been a part of society for thousands of years. Stand up to the hate coming from the capital and let your representatives know how you feel. We need to push back against extremism where the main goal is to distract voters from the rich and powerful stealing from us all by keeping us fighting each other.”
Despite the environment of fear and -20 degree windchill, locals came out to Studio 13 on Wednesday of Free Week for a night of karaoke, comedy, and drag to voice their support for the scene in their community.
This is as people have grown concerned over the relationship between the state and cities, who often have conflicting goals. The city officials ignore or work around federal and state orders because they don’t fit the wants or need of the constituents, while others fear possible funding cuts or retribution from a particularly punitive Republican controlled government.
On Monday February 24th, an Iowa house sub committee voted to advance House Study Bill 242. The Senate responded with Senate File 418 that contains similar language and aims to remove mentions of queer people in schools.
The bill would be the first time a state has removed civil rights protections for a population of its citizens, and functionally abolishes any protections for transgender and nonbinary people. This allows for trans Iowans to be denied housing, jobs, services, credit, or education based on their gender identity.
In the Iowa State Capitol Building during the subcommittee hearing, hundreds of protesters from across the state came to voice their opposition to the bill. They filled the rotunda and hallway both in physical presence and in noise, chanting their anger and grief, trying to disrupt the hearing.
State troopers eventually tried to force protesters out of the hallway. This is despite no restrictions on the protest being set in place beforehand, which is a violation of First Amendment protections. State troopers used violent force, pushing people to the ground, and crushing protesters against each other as they tried to move them. Two protesters were arrested.
The bill is another in a string of anti-LGBT legislation since 2020, and would be the biggest victory for Iowa’s Christian right and Kim Reynolds’ policy goals which includes the systematic removal of the queer community from public life including restricting their access to medicine, public spaces, and athletics.
Christian lobbyist groups like PELLA PAC, The Family Leader, and Inspired Life were present during the sub committees vote and have been drafting and pushing for the removal of gender identity as a legally recognized class since at least last year’s legislative session when they supported House Bill 2082 which had similar language. PELLA PAC states their goals include cleansing America of “Propaganda promoted by Marxist and atheist bureaucracies.” The civil rights protection they removed has stood in the way of other discriminatory policies the house majority is attempting to pass.
The bill makes specific reference to MAGA talking points and is framed under the guise of “protecting woman.” The bill claims that “equal” accommodations do not mean “same” or “identical” and that, “Separate accommodations are not inherently unequal,” upending legal precedent established in the 1950s by Brown v. Board of Education.
The present bill is moving to the House floor for a vote. It also has passed through the Senate subcommittee. Governor Kim Reynolds could sign it into law as early as Thursday afternoon.
