The latest attack on everyday Idahoans from Blaine Conzatti and his far-right GOP cronies has gone public: the same special interest groups banning abortion, banning books, and using their backroom connections in government to ban anything that doesn’t meet their strict moral codes, now want to ban drag shows.
Not surprising, this latest attack, like the critical race theory dog whistle, comes right out of their confrontational politics handbook: use something that is commonly misunderstood or not quite mainstream and infuse it with derogatory images to instill fear in folks that middle America is under siege and your white picket fence will be the next thing to go.
Drag is their newest red herring to attack a segment of the population that they feel threatened by – the LGBTQ community. This fear mongering is harmful and fuels misunderstanding and hostility, which leads to the kind of violence we have seen recently in our community: pride flags being stolen and burned or Boise’s LGBTQ community center’s windows smashed and broken.
People who are Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender belong here and deserve to live a life free from discrimination and disdain from their government. We must continue to fight back against hateful attacks that prey on people for political gain. We have to expose what extremists are doing and push back against their intentional, far-fetched misrepresentations and replace that with common sense, reason, and a healthy dose of respect for the dignity of all Idahoans.
Drag shows are just another excuse to erode and limit people’s rights. Last session, they tried to jail doctors and nurses for providing gender-affirming care for children under their parent’s supervision – a violation of parental rights. Before that, a bill to ban transgender athletes from participating in sports. Before that, they passed bills to prevent people from changing their gender marker on their birth certificate which resulted in an expensive lawsuit that taxpayers paid. Before that, they rejected 24 hours of testimony and voted on party lines to reject legislation to include sexual orienation and gender identity to Idaho’s Human Rights Act that makes discrimination illegal based on race, sex, color, national origin, religion, age, mental or physical disability.
Even after Steven Nelson was lured to Lake Lowell in 2017 by hate-fueled predators and murdered because he was gay, I couldn’t get a bill introduced to add sexual orientation to the hate crimes statue in Idaho. The feds brought hate charges, but Idaho authorities couldn’t. Legislators refused to create laws that would charge violent murderers for their crimes, and now have the audacity to criminalize free speech.
The misguided push to make theatrical dress up performances an enemy of the people and to use that tactic to block progress, because saying outright that you fear gay people, is shameful. The new GOP won’t be happy until their prescription for morality is filled and everyone has to live by their rules or face getting thrown in jail.
What is at the heart of this attack? Well, being gay doesn’t meet the new GOP definition of a “traditional family,” and a certain group of political extremists want to outlaw people and practices that don’t meet their prescribed moral code. This group prefers jails over justice.
A drag performance does not appeal to everyone, and it’s fine to find entertainment elsewhere. Nobody is being forced to watch.
Instead of pulling the curtain on theatrical stage performances, let’s pull back the curtain and expose hate and lies that are having deeply harmful effects on Idahoans beyond a little stage performance. Don’t fall for it, Idaho. We’re smarter and better than that.