The Texas drag community faces potential restrictions on their library story time sessions after legislative action from the Texas Senate. Drag performers, including the popular Brigitte Bandit, have been storytelling fixtures in public libraries but have encountered legal roadblocks recently.
The Texas Senate passed two bills on November 15, aimed at controlling child-focused drag performances. The Texas Tribune reports that Senate Bill 1601 threatens to defund libraries that allow drag queens to read to children. Meanwhile, Senate Bill 12 bans minors from drag shows featuring overly inappropriate content.
Many parents, objecting the proposed legislation, have supported drag performer story times, such as the one arranged by Brigitte Bandit at The Little Gay Shop in East Austin. A report in KXAN underscores how these events offer safe spaces for children with vivacious personalities to engage and connect with the performers.
Senate Democrats, drag performers and LGBTQ+ organizations have criticized the bills, claiming they infringe upon the free expression protections provided by the First Amendment. Not all drag events are inherently sexual, Brigitte Bandit said in The Texas Tribune, and pointed out the fact that queer expression isn't inherently sexual.
