There was a packed house at a “Champagne Drag Brunch” held on Saturday afternoon at the Dallas bar Mr. Misster.
As reported by The Dallas Express, attendance at local drag shows had appeared to fizzle following the enactment of a new state law on September 1 that prohibits “sexually oriented performances” from being held in the presence of minors. Mr. Misster had previously hosted such “all-ages” drag shows, prompting protests from organizations like Protect Texas Kids (PTK).
Attendance at drag shows had been sparse in recent weeks, and a BuzzBrews location that previously held drag shows with minors in attendance ended up shutting down recently.
Saturday’s show began around 2:30 p.m. and was hosted by drag performer Nicole O’Hara Munro. Roughly 30 people packed the relatively small bar to enjoy the show, which featured four other performers: Blue Valentine, Shasta Montana, Mayra D’Lorenzo, and Kylie O’Hara. They lip-synced to well-known songs and danced across the stage as those in attendance threw dollar bills.
An attendee at the show, Katie Urdiales, told The Dallas Express that she had been to drag shows before and that many drag queens pay respect to their musical idols by performing some of their best-known songs.
“I think it is oftentimes showing the power of these women and the power of their music,” said Urdiales. “Just loving the energy and the power that those women bring.”
Such performances have become a hot topic in Texas in recent years. Even events reserved for adults have prompted condemnation over allegedly being “derisive” to women.
“Drag shows stereotype women in cartoon-like extremes for the amusement of others and discriminate against womanhood,” said West Texas A&M University President Walter Wendler in an email to his school community, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Wendler made headlines by canceling a drag show that was scheduled to take place at the university earlier this year.
While some may agree with Wendler’s statements that drag shows are disrespectful to women, those in attendance during Saturday’s brunch had different opinions.
Haley Carruthers said that drag performances are not necessarily black and white and that “feminity can be expressed in a lot of different ways.”
“Whether that is by a woman or not by a woman, or someone in between, it’s still embodying what femininity is. So paying homage to that,” Carruthers told The Dallas Express.
Drag performances became the main topic of discussion during the lead-up to the passage of SB 12, the new law that prohibits children from being present at any “sexually oriented performances.”
The bill passed after months of legislative consideration over whether children should be allowed to attend drag shows due to the sexually explicit content and themes they sometimes contain. As previously reported by The Dallas Express, one local drag show recently held a sex toy giveaway that included a twerking competition.
Activist Kelly Neidert of PTK has been vocal about her concerns over minors attending such events, claiming that anyone who supports the notion is “okay with children being sexualized … and exposing children to extremely sexual content.”
“I truly don’t understand how anyone should be okay with that,” said Neidert in a previous statement to The Dallas Express.
