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Wednesday, September 10, 2025
Oklahoma AG on the First Amendment and Drag Shows
Reason.com: Such drag shows are protected unless they fit within the (fairly narrow) category of obscenity, which is limited to certain material that depicts sexual conduct (not just cross-dressing).
3 comments:
Mothman
said...
Drag shows are not inherently sexual or "obscene". Yes, some drag shows contain adult content and those shows are labeled as 18+. Sometimes those shows are in bars and are 21+. There are many reasons for a drag performer might choose to perform something with adult content and that is their decision and the decision of the audience to attend but those shows are always labeled as 18+. When drag is being performed for kids, like story times, it is not sexual. I cannot speak to the morals of every drag performer ever(gay people can be bad people), but every performer I have met wants kids to be safe and have fun and drag is fun. It is not homophobic to label 18+ drag shows as sexual or obscene in terms of the law. When the concept of drag as a whole is labeled as obscene or when drag performers are baselessly accused of being predators, that is homophobic.
After doing an extensive research project last year on Drag Shows and the current condemnation of them by states attempting to outlaw them it seems that this might be the first light at the end of a very dark tunnel. Seeing that there was a Fifth Circuit court that reversed the decision that obscenity overruled their right to the First Amendment, even if it was a very thin line of justification is a little bit of hope. Honestly, if their standard for Drag shows is the same as that for strip shows then it’s not a violation of rights. However, drag shows have a component that allows them to be a public event and it's that it doesn't have to rely on sexual content. Learning about the Miller test for obscenity makes the drag bans a little less scary, but any type of censorship of art is a very dangerous slope because who decides the value of the final part of the Oklahoma law which states that “it lacks serious literary, artistic, educational, political, or scientific value when taken as a whole.”
I honestly think this is kind of strange, but a decent step in the right direction. Personally, I think obscene material should be protected under the first amendment, of course, children should not be exposed to sexually obscene material. But outlawing obscenity in media and public spaces relates to a larger issue that american media is quicker to censor sexual content than it is to censor violence, which is extremely harmful because it creates a culture where we become desensitized to violence. I generally just find our definition of obscenity to be a little bit hypocritical. I think it's gonna be tough for drag performances in Oklahoma to not be seen as obscene, because a lot of people are simply bigoted. Drag performances can include many things and are not all sexual, but many people view them as obscene because they don't fit their religious standards, so I hope this law will bring clarity to things.
3 comments:
Drag shows are not inherently sexual or "obscene". Yes, some drag shows contain adult content and those shows are labeled as 18+. Sometimes those shows are in bars and are 21+. There are many reasons for a drag performer might choose to perform something with adult content and that is their decision and the decision of the audience to attend but those shows are always labeled as 18+. When drag is being performed for kids, like story times, it is not sexual. I cannot speak to the morals of every drag performer ever(gay people can be bad people), but every performer I have met wants kids to be safe and have fun and drag is fun. It is not homophobic to label 18+ drag shows as sexual or obscene in terms of the law. When the concept of drag as a whole is labeled as obscene or when drag performers are baselessly accused of being predators, that is homophobic.
After doing an extensive research project last year on Drag Shows and the current condemnation of them by states attempting to outlaw them it seems that this might be the first light at the end of a very dark tunnel. Seeing that there was a Fifth Circuit court that reversed the decision that obscenity overruled their right to the First Amendment, even if it was a very thin line of justification is a little bit of hope. Honestly, if their standard for Drag shows is the same as that for strip shows then it’s not a violation of rights. However, drag shows have a component that allows them to be a public event and it's that it doesn't have to rely on sexual content. Learning about the Miller test for obscenity makes the drag bans a little less scary, but any type of censorship of art is a very dangerous slope because who decides the value of the final part of the Oklahoma law which states that “it lacks serious literary, artistic, educational, political, or scientific value when taken as a whole.”
I honestly think this is kind of strange, but a decent step in the right direction. Personally, I think obscene material should be protected under the first amendment, of course, children should not be exposed to sexually obscene material. But outlawing obscenity in media and public spaces relates to a larger issue that american media is quicker to censor sexual content than it is to censor violence, which is extremely harmful because it creates a culture where we become desensitized to violence. I generally just find our definition of obscenity to be a little bit hypocritical. I think it's gonna be tough for drag performances in Oklahoma to not be seen as obscene, because a lot of people are simply bigoted. Drag performances can include many things and are not all sexual, but many people view them as obscene because they don't fit their religious standards, so I hope this law will bring clarity to things.
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