Supporters of drag performers gathered on Sept. 2 at the Mercer County Courthouse in Celina, Ohio to protest a bill that would ban some drag performances in the state.
House Bill 245, which is sponsored by Mercer County resident Rep. Angela King (R-Celina), would ban drag performances in locations other than “adult cabaret.”
HB245 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 defines drag performers as “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.”
If passed, HB245 would make violating the law a first, fourth or fifth degree misdemeanor, depending on the content of the show.
Tennessee passed a similar ban in March but was later overturned by a Trump-appointed federal district court judge in western Tennessee, who ruled that Tennessee’s “Adult Entertainment Act” violated the First Amendment.
Photos by Aidan Mahoney
"If they're gonna export their hate and their bigotry statewide, we're gonna take our protests local... to their districts, to their hometowns," said Ari Childrey, director of Northwest Ohio Trans Advocacy.
House Bill 245, which is sponsored by Mercer County resident Rep. Angela King (R-Celina), would ban drag performances in locations other than “adult cabaret.”
HB245 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 defines drag performers as “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.”
If passed, HB245 would make violating the law a first, fourth or fifth degree misdemeanor, depending on the content of the show.
Tennessee passed a similar ban in March but was later overturned by a Trump-appointed federal district court judge in western Tennessee, who ruled that Tennessee’s “Adult Entertainment Act” violated the First Amendment.
Photos by Aidan Mahoney
