Proposed bill would ban minors from attending drag shows in Iowa

DES MOINES — Exposing minors to drag shows would be criminalized under a proposed bill in the Iowa Legislature that critics say is overly broad and could potentially target artistic performances.

The House Education Subcommittee on Tuesday advanced House Study Bill 158, which would bar minors from attending drag shows or performances where a performer “exhibits a gender identity that is different than the performer’s gender assigned at birth through the use of clothing, makeup, accessories or other gender signifiers.”

The bill defines performances as singing, lip-synching, dances and readings.

Under the legislation, an adult who knowingly takes a minor to a drag show would be guilty of a Class D felony, which is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of at least $1,025, but not more than $10,245. The Class D felony charge also would apply to business operators who knowingly let minors attend drag performances at their venues. They could face a fine of $10,000 for each minor in attendance.

The legislation comes as LGBTQ+ pride events, including drag story times where drag performers read to children at libraries and bookstores, have been targeted by conservative efforts to restrict them. Opponents of drag story times argue they expose children to “sexualized behavior.”

A bill considered in early February by the Iowa Senate would criminalize exposing minors to “obscene performances,” which LGBTQ+ advocates argue could be used to target drag events and venues that host them.

Drag performers and LQBTQ+ advocates flooded the committee room and hallway outside to oppose the bill being considered by the House subcommittee on Tuesday.

Landon Stanley, a 17-year-old drag performer from Marshalltown who goes by the stage name “Lonika Lareese Knight,” said drag influences are in multiple pieces of popular media including “Mrs. Doubtfire” and “Hairspray.”

“I've been performing in drag since age 11, participating in numerous shows across Iowa,” Stanley said. “Six years in the industry, I have never experienced anything mentally and or physically harmful.”

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Maxwell Mowitz, representing LGBTQ+ advocacy group One Iowa, questioned what constitutes a drag performance under the bill, noting its broadness could have unintended consequences.

“I'm reading testimony in front of a group of people from the perspective of a trans person,” Mowitz said. “I give presentations and speeches in our community, and that would also be considered performing. It seems to me that the language of this bill could be bent to make it illegal for a minor to attend an event at which I am speaking, including this very subcommittee, simply because I live and dress as a different gender than the sex that I was assigned at birth, which is drag according to this legislation.”

James Obradovich, representing the Independent Venues Association of Iowa, said performances where actors dress up as different genders including Beethoven’s opera “Fidelio” and Shakespeare's “Twelfth Night” would be banned under the current version of the bill.

“We would make those things not possible to perform here,” Obradovich said. “I think Shakespeare, I think Beethoven's operas are important things for everyone, for kids, for us old folks, to be exposed to. Those are really important things here in Iowa and I don't think that's really what you want to do.”

Danny Caroll, representing The Family Leader, a Christian conservative organization, said exposing children to drag shows is harmful.

“It breaks my heart,” Caroll said. “This is not the Iowa that I knew when I came here in 1971, that we would be having such a discussion whether or not children should go to a drag show. That's where we are today. That's what it's come to.

“This is the Iowa that my grandchildren will know. I guess if you want to be a drag queen, you want to do that show, more power to you, free speech, have at it, leave the kids alone.”

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Oliver Bardwell, representing Iowans for Freedom, a conservative advocacy group, said he thinks the bill respects community values while protecting adult freedoms.

“As a society, we can agree that some things — alcohol, cigarettes, pornography, tattoos, R-rated movies and even some video games — are not appropriate for kids,” Bardwell said. “This bill applies that same standard to sexually themed performances, including drag shows that have increasingly featured lewd dancing, partial nudity and in some cases, leading children to tipping performers like in a strip club.”

Rep. Helena Hayes, R-New Sharon, said she is aware of the bill’s broadness and the subcommittee will offer amendments to tighten it up to make sure it wouldn’t ban “perfectly acceptable” performances. She noted she has heard concerns from parents about drag performances, adding the bill does not come from a place of hatred toward transgender Iowans.

“We are well aware that there are many concerns around drag shows,” Hayes said. “We hear about it quite often, from our constituents, from people across the state. The question is, are there drag performances, drag shows that have obscene material, that have profanity, that have any inappropriateness for young children?”

The three-member subcommittee of Hayes, Rep. Heather Hora, R-Washington, and Rep. Elinor Levin, D-Iowa City, advanced the bill with Levin declining to sign on.