Ohio Republicans introduce bill to ban drag performances in locations other than ‘adult cabaret’

Ohio Republicans introduced a bill on Monday to ban drag performances in locations other than “adult cabaret.”

HB 245 is sponsored by Reps. Angela King (R-Celina) and Josh Williams (R-Oregon) and co-sponsored by 41 other Republican representatives. 

The bill defines an “adult cabaret performance” as “a performance in a location other than an adult cabaret that is harmful to juveniles or obscene.” 

The bill specifically calls out drag performers by referencing “performers or entertainers who exhibit a gender identity that is different from the performer’s or entertainer’s gender assigned at birth using clothing, makeup, prosthetic or imitation genitals or breasts, or other physical markers.”

A key piece of this legislation are the words “harmful to juveniles or obscene,” a phrase defined in the Ohio Revised Code as “any material or performance describing or representing nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sado-masochistic abuse in any form to which all of the following apply.”

In a recent Ohio example of how subjective this language can be, community members in Celina, Ohio approached their local City Council claiming that a drag queen wearing a bathing suit at a Pride celebration should be classified as “nudity,” due to their backside not being completely covered. 

HB 245 would impose penalties including:

• A first degree misdemeanor if the performance takes place in the presence of a minor. 
• A fifth degree felony if the performance is “obscene.”
• A fourth degree felony if the performance is “obscene” and there are minors under 13 years of age present. 

Swift outcry

LGBTQ+ Ohio leaders were quick to denounce HB 245. 

Densil Porteous, executive director of Stonewall Columbus, called the bill a “direct attack” on the LGBTQ+ community — and one that has nothing to do with the safety and protection of children. 

“HB 245 has everything to do with fear of the unknown and erasure of identities seen in contrast to cis-heteronormative standards,” Porteous said. 

As Stonewall Columbus hosts the largest Pride celebration in Ohio, he also noted the historical role that trans-identified individuals and drag queens played in leading the Stonewall Uprising.

“HB 245 is a direct attack,” Porteous said. “It is directly attacking these identities who we must keep visibly at the forefront of our Pride because it is these identities that have always been the most under attack.”

Veranda L’Ni, a Cleveland-based drag performer, has made headlines in the past year for her work organizing and hosting Drag Story Hour. Her work in promoting literacy and giving out free books to children has been threatened by candidates for the United States Senate, protested by out-of-town picketers and had an actual molotov cocktail thrown at a church where she was set to perform. 

She highlighted the devastating effect HB 245 would have on both drag performers as well as the theatrical community at-large.

“This drag ban will affect not only performers, but it will place theatres and other creative spaces at risk for unjust persecution and ludicrous violations,” L’Ni said. This is an attack on the First Amendment at its core. Not only is my freedom of speech and self-expression on the line, so too is my ability to make a living. These 43 representatives do not care.”

Erin Upchurch, executive director of Kaleidoscope Youth Center, called HB 245 another addition to the “stack of harmful and discriminatory legislation emerging from the Ohio statehouse.”

“The sponsors of this bill are continuing the outrageous overreach and hypocrisy of attempting to control Ohioans, and specifically targeting trans and non binary individuals’ identities and expression; and the LGBTQ+ community as a whole,” Upchurch said.

She further called HB 245 “outright discrimination” and noted the lack of action from Republican legislators to actually safeguard Ohio’s youth.

“There is not one thing this group of ‘crusaders’ has done to support, protect, or affirm the youth in our state,” Upchurch said. “They are, in fact, the ones causing harm.”

Maria Bruno, public policy director at Equality Ohio, said that HB 245 is a case of censorship over safety.

“There have been multiple documented incidents of self-identified Nazis showing up to performances in Ohio in the past 9 months. The Department of Homeland Security has sent out multiple alerts indicating the growing threat of hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people. Yet instead of addressing guns, targeted intimidation or any of the escalations of violence that we are seeing in our communities, Ohio’s statehouse politicians instead have chosen to broadly criminalize performing arts. Yet another waste of taxpayer money for political points at the expense of addressing real problems facing our state,” Bruno said.

National context

HB 245 follows a nationwide rash of drag and gender performance prohibitions. 

Montana and Tennessee have passed laws that ban drag performances. Florida, North Dakota, Texas and Arkansas have all passed laws that could be used to target or restrict drag. 

Florida and Tennessee’s laws are currently unenforceable due to being blocked by a judge (in Florida) and ruled unconstitutional (in Tennessee’s).

As seen in other municipalities, HB 245’s vague language could lead to a chilling effect on a wide range of businesses and other establishments that might choose to avoid having trans speakers or performers out of fear of breaking the law.

This occurred last month in Montana where Montana Republican House Majority Leader Sue Vinton said that their version of an anti-drag bill had “nothing to do with the transgender community.” 

A few weeks later, a library was forced to cancel a talk by a trans writer after the county government informed them that the talk may violate the newly-signed law. The writer was not a drag performer.

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Ignite Action

• Do you know your state legislator? Go HERE to enter your address to find out who represents you. Then contact them. And let them know your thoughts on HB 245.