Tag Archives: drag

Courthouse News reports: An LGBTQ student group asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday for emergency intervention so it can conduct an annual charity drag show against the wishes of the university’s Christian president. Two lower courts denied Spectrum WT’s request to block West Texas A&M University’s ban on the performance. The group urged the justices to act where the lower …

“We are so honored to have this award. Listen, you guys are just pure lovely for honoring our show and recognizing all these queens. We have released into the wild, hundreds of drag queens and they’re beautiful. On behalf of all of them, we thank you. If a drag queen wants to read you a story at a library, listen …

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports: Piaf Kitchen + Wine + Bar had promoted a “drag show” Dec. 31 as part of a circus act at a premium-priced party that also will include a fire thrower, a magician, a palm reader, dinner, music and a DJ. The restaurant posted Friday on social media, the lineup was changed, “For the safety of …

The Associated Press reports: A federal judge has temporarily blocked city officials in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, from enforcing an ordinance designed to ban drag performances from taking place on public property. An order issued Friday by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Waverly Crenshaw Jr. bars the city from enforcing the ordinance during the BoroPride Festival scheduled for next weekend. The judge’s …

CNN reports: A drag queen who dressed as Jesus Christ and performed a rock rendition of The Lord’s Prayer has been arrested in the Philippines under the country’s obscenity laws, sparking a fierce debate about free speech and protections for members of the LGBTQ community. Amadeus Fernando Pagente, 33, whose drag name is Pura Luka Vega and who uses the …

Reuters reports: A federal judge in Texas ruled on Tuesday that the state’s new law limiting public drag performances was an unconstitutional restriction on speech and he permanently forbid enforcement of it. “Not all people will like or condone certain performances,” U.S. District Judge David Hittner wrote. “This is no different than a person’s opinion on certain comedy or genres …

The Texas Tribune reports: U.S. District Judge David Hittner temporarily blocked a new state law Thursday from going into effect that would have criminalized sexually-oriented performances in front of children or effectively banned some public drag shows. LGBTQ+ groups sued the Texas attorney general’s office, hoping to stop authorities from enforcing Senate Bill 12, which was signed by Gov. Greg …

The Independent reports: Kevin Bacon has gone viral with a video he made in protest of the drag bans. On Sunday, he posted a video of him and his wife, the actor Kyra Sedgwick, dancing to Taylor Swift’s song “Karma” and wearing t-shirts with the slogan “Drag is an art and drag is a right”. In the caption to the …

The BBC reports: Australian entertainer Barry Humphries, best known for his comic character Dame Edna Everage, has died aged 89. The star had been in hospital in Sydney after suffering complications following hip surgery in March. He had a fall in February. Humphries’ most famous creation became a hit in the UK in the 1970s and landed her own TV …

“Should wearing dresses and skirts be illegal for men in public? If so, should wearing pants for women in public be illegal in public? Well, pants not so much because there is a female version of pants that is nearly indistinguishable in many cases from male pants. But men wearing traditional female clothing in public – I think that there …

San Francisco’s NBC affiliate reports: Longtime San Francisco drag performer Heklina has reportedly died in London, according to a social media post from fellow SF drag mainstay, Peaches Christ (aka Joshua Grannell). Heklina and Grannell were apparently in London together starring in “Mommie Queerest,” which is a described as a “Wild drag parody” of the 1981 film, “Mommie Dearest.” “This …

The Hill reports: The results of an NPR-PBS NewsHour-Marist poll, released Wednesday, show 58 percent of respondents said they oppose laws restricting the performances, while 39 percent said they support them. Democrats are the most likely to oppose such laws, with almost three-quarters of them saying they are opposed, but 57 percent of independents and 37 percent of Republicans also …

The Guardian reports: Paul O’Grady, the beloved TV presenter and comedian who broke on to the scene with his drag act persona Lily Savage, has died at the age of 67. His husband, Andre Portasio, confirmed in a statement that O’Grady died “unexpectedly but peacefully” on Tuesday evening. Days ago, O’Grady had finished a stint playing Miss Hannigan in the …

The Associated Press reports: Walter Cole, better known as the iconic drag queen who performed for decades as Darcelle XV and a fearless advocate for Portland’s LGBTQ+ community, has died of natural causes in Portland, Oregon. He was 92. Darcelle, who died Thursday, was crowned the world’s oldest working drag performer in 2016 by the Guinness Book of World Records …

Orlando’s Fox affiliate reports: Identical Florida House and Senate bills, entitled “Protection of Children,” go after hotels and restaurants that allow children to attend what the bills call “an adult live performance.” While drag isn’t mentioned by name, the bills define the performances as depicting or simulating nudity, sexual conduct or excitement, or “the lewd exposure of prosthetic or imitation …

“Hey, look over there! A classic distraction technique, distracting us away from the real issues that they were voted into office to focus on: jobs, healthcare, keeping our children safe from harm at their own school. “But we know that bullies are incompetent at solving real issues. They look for easy targets so they can give the impression of being …

Little Rock’s NBC affiliate reports: A controversial bill reclassifying drag performances as adult entertainment and placing limits on where performances can happen has been approved by Arkansas senators. Tuesday afternoon, the full Senate passed SB43 29 to 6, with the split going straight down party lines with the majority Republican caucus solidly behind the measure. The proposed law would add …

The Associated Press reports: A Vermont high school homecoming football game turned into a “drag ball” runway at halftime, with a mix of students and faculty members parading in gowns, wigs and makeup — and a big crowd in rainbow colors to cheer them on. “Things went amazing,” Ezra Totten, student leader of the Gender Sexuality Alliance at Burlington High …

Gentle readers, I’m rerunning my annual Pride rant for the seventeenth year. I wrote this post in 2005 a couple of days after attending Pride in NYC. In the following years I’ve reposted it in advance of NYC Pride in the hope of encouraging you to attend your local events. While the pandemic has canceled this year’s festivities in many …

Gentle readers, I’m rerunning my annual Pride rant for the sixteenth year. I wrote this post in 2005 a couple of days after attending Pride in NYC. In the following years I’ve reposted it in advance of NYC Pride in the hope of encouraging you to attend your local events. While the pandemic has canceled most of this year’s festivities, …