Anti Drag Laws are Both Absurd and Funny

How on earth can a state's legislature, school board or city government define a "drag show" and how can any of them enforce or stop such a thing? A Federal Judge appointed by Trump is asking the same thing, tossing out one such law. All through religion are cultural preferences about how people are to dress. In some Muslim countries women are forced to cover themselves up completely. There are laws and street enforcers who go around and scold women. Some places it works for a while. When women join together to ignore it, like in Iran, doesn't work. Now we have Christians trying to enforce something they personally don't like. 

What this country needs is more films and plays like The Birdcage. That movie made fun of anti drag people. Instead of religious moralists pretending to present themselves as some kind of serious and thoughtful commentators of our culture we need comedians and actors presenting them as what they are, airheads. 

The scenario of how drag came to be so vilified is not hard to figure out. Drag performers flaunt conventional wisdom. If one said, "A line has been drawn designating acceptable portrayal of gender and sexuality, do not cross it," most drag shows not only cross the line, they stomp on it and laugh. This is exactly what free speech was about in the U.S. Constitution.

Bible quoting moralists can't stand it that drag shows treat moralists as though they are unimportant. Moralist Bible quoters are unimportant and that is quite obvious. 

These moralists had to come up with something which implied there is a bigger issue than religion and self appointed moral authorities. What they came up with is that drag performers, whether in drag shows or reading children's books on Saturday morning in the public library, causes children to change their self-identified gender. There is no research to support this. What supports it is the desire to control others who have views different than those of the moralists.  

One of the religious right's favorite tactics is to imagine some kind of harm done by following practices they do not approve of. They have tried to say same sex attraction causes suicides and other health problems. There is no scientific conclusion that same sex attraction itself is the cause of suicide. What society does to such people is still considered a variable that is suspicious.

The religious right continues to claim abortion is a dangerous medical procedure and deny giving birth is more dangerous. This even though data say it is otherwise.

Anti drag laws need to not only be tossed out of court, they need to be laughed out of court.