Half of the world may be addicted to RuPaul's Drag Race - and its many international franchises, however drag performers are still proving to be stirring the fury of the conservative establishment, at least in the United States.

AT least 15 states with hardline Republican majorities, are currently pushing through bills to restrict the performance of drag artists, banning them altogether in public places and if minors are in attendance.

The first of the twenty or so laws going in this direction passed in the state of Tennessee on February 23rd, justified - as predictable - as an measure to protect children. "It gives confidence to parents that they can take their kids to a public or private show and will not be blindsided by a sexualised performance," Tennessee Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, a Republican, said in a statement.

This month, Johnson and his Senate colleagues passed a bill criminalising "adult cabaret entertainment" in public or where it could be seen by children, though it would still be allowed in age-restricted venues. The bill defined such entertainment as including "adult-oriented" performances by strippers, go-go dancers or "male or female impersonators."

A first offence would be a misdemeanour crime, and a subsequent offence a felony, carrying a sentence of between one and six years in prison.

Tennessee, like other states, already has public indecency and obscenity laws that ban excessively violent or sexual performances in front of minors, regardless of the performer's gender. Drag performances typically do not involve nudity or stripping, however now they would be somehow assimilated to such shows.

Apart from being a direct attack to LGBTQ+ people's freedom of expression, the bill also represents a danger to the trans community. Kathy Sinback, the executive director of the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) of Tennessee, said that because the bill’s language around what constitutes performance is “not well defined,” it could lead to broader attacks on trans people across the state. 

“[The bill] gives everyone who’s enforcing it across the state a license to bully not only drag performers but potentially trans people who are doing any sort of performance. … It can be interpreted as broadly as the narrow-minded people in the state want to interpret it,” Sinback said.

The law now will head to Governor Bill Lee, also a hardline Republican, for signing into law. However, even if he vetoes it, the Legislature can override his actions and enact the bill into law as soon as April 1st.