OpEd: 'Despite every legislative attempt to silence queer voices in rural places, there has been and will continue to be a voice for justice, hope, and joy.'
. The bill included more references to drag in earlier drafts, but now mentions only a ban on “drag story hour” and “sexually oriented or obscene performances.” It targets performances on public property where children are present, public schools, and libraries — and something more specific that seems to be on the minds of lawmakers: One line item singles out performances that feature prosthetic breastplates, like those worn by drag queens.
As a historian focused on gender and performance in Montana’s early years, I’ve uncovered archival evidence of such attempts to legislate what happens onstage that echo, eerily, what’s happening today in Montana and nationwide. At the heart of these bans are myths about gender and queerness — and the idea that youth need protection from the newfangled “evils” they could be exposed to at something like drag story hour in a public library.
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