Statewide, Iowa (RI) – Minors would not be allowed to attend drag shows under a bill advancing in the Iowa House and adults could be charged with a felony if they knowingly bring a minor to a performance.
Oliver Bardwell, a leader of the group Iowans for Freedom, says the bill is necessary to ensure adult content is for adults only.
The bill describes a drag show as a performance centered on someone using make up and clothing to take on a gender identity different from the one on their birth certificate. Zoe Mahler of Iowa City is a drag performer.
Businesses could be fined $10,000 each time a minor is allowed to attend entertainment featuring someone who performs in attire associated with a different gender. Critics say the bill is written too broadly, making it a crime for children to be in the audience for movies like “Mulan” and “Mrs. Doubtfire”, or to attend plays like Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.”
