Tennessee is the first American state to legislate against drag shows, drag queens shows, considering that it undermines the protection of children.
Drag culture is in vogue in the United States. She has been exported to France and the rest of the world in recent years, notably with the show RuPaul’s Drag Race, which puts drag queens in competition. The shows are intended to be funny, burlesque and colorful, which has won over part of the world. But Bill Lee, the Republican governor of Tennessee, disagrees. Since March 2, it is the first American state to legislate against these representations in the name of the protection of children. Indeed, local authorities consider these shows too sexualized.
And the White House was quick to react. The next day, Karine Jean-Pierre, her spokeswoman, claimed that “these kinds of ridiculous decisions are not only unnecessary, they are dangerous”, especially “at a time when LGBT + Americans face a higher risk violence, mental health issues.
The “culture wars”
If Tennessee is the first American state to take such a decision, it could soon be joined by conservative states such as Texas, Kansas or Arizona, which have proposed similar texts. This national disagreement over drag queen shows is part of what is known in the United States as the “culture wars”. These are debates, focusing mainly on the issue of gender and sexuality, fueled by elected conservatives and the religious right, particularly active in the United States.
These “culture wars” also relate to the question of abortion, with the removal of the Roe V. Wade judgment on June 24, 2022, which guaranteed the right to abortion. Also, the states that have proposed texts that want to restrict drag queen shows are also the most severe on the issue of abortion.
