Show-Me Drag Crackdown Forgetting About American TV History

The intentions of conservatives might be pure but the drag show controversy is FAKE . . . Or at the very least it doesn't understand the complicated history of drag in American popular culture.

Many right wing legislators are "outraged" about drag performances including children and we can only hope to calm so much local anger by noting that drag has, in fact, been part of mainstream culture for more than 60 years.

One more example . . .

Comedian Flip Wilson popularized his character "Geraldine Jones" for PRIME TIME TV AUDIENCES more than 50 years ago. 

Yep, sorry but audiences of MILLIONS included children, families, grandparents and the whole nation sitting in front of the TV laughing at his antics IN DRAG. 

Sure, today's shows are more raunchy but that gets us into legislating age-appropriate content which isn't really so much about drag but requires a more arduous discussion of public decency that NOBODY wants to undertake . . . 

And so . . . We throw this inconvenient fact into the mix: 

Drag performances for children have been part of American pop culture for a half century. 

In fairness, here's the word from a politico who didn't major in something useless like communication studies . . .

Earlier this month, drag performers from the group Nclusion Plus put on a musical show at the annual Columbia Values Diversity Breakfast. About 30 middle school students from Columbia Public Schools were among the 1,000 attendees.

Missouri Attorney General Bailey subsequently sent letters to Columbia Public Schools arguing that the district had violated Missouri state laws that make it a crime to share "sexually explicit" material with young students.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

Missouri Attorney General won't back off legal threats against school district over a drag show

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey says "all legal options are on the table" to punish Columbia Public Schools for a drag show that around 30 students also attended. The school district and the drag performance group Nclusion Plus have repeatedly rebutted the Attorney General's claims, explaining that the show was "G-rated" and not sexual in nature.