The Senate Education committee voted Tuesday morning to kill a bill that would have made someone guilty of disseminating material harmful to minors, a class one misdemeanor, if they were performing in drag.
Drag became popular in 19th century British theater and has heavy roots in modern LGBTQ+ culture for its performance and entertainment styles that challenge traditional assumptions of gender identity and expression.
Sen. Julie Frye-Mueller’s (R-Rapid City) bill would’ve defined a drag performance as someone singing, speaking, dancing, acting, simulating or pantomiming in the presence of others while exhibiting a gender identity different from their sex assigned at birth through the use of clothing, makeup or other physical markers.
Her bill also would’ve defined the performance as offensive to contemporary community standards because of the description or representation of sexual matters.
She and her fellow proponent, Florence Thompson of conservative lobbying groups South Dakota Parents Involved in Education and South Dakota Citizens for Liberty, both largely argued minors need to be protected from drag performances.