Drag and the Constitution

• In Event: Queering the Constitution: LGBTQ Rights and Identity in the US Constitution

Abstract

Public backlash to drag shows and public drag events like drag brunch or drag queen story hour has become one of the most vigorous culture war issues of the last few years, generating attempts at legislation especially in conservative states. The animating question behind this paper is what do existing Supreme Court decisions have to say about freedom of expression specifically as it applies to dress, gender, and obscenity and what might those precedents tell us about the constitutional fate of laws seeking to regulate drag shows? This paper, after first briefly discussing the history of drag and the law, will then examine the precedents of the US Supreme Court regarding free expression, dress and gender as well as US Supreme Court precedents around obscenity to analyze how those precedents might be applied to new regulations around drag being proposed in Tennessee, Idaho, and Texas. This analysis will contribute to ongoing academic and political discussions about the limits of free expression, especially for minoritized groups.

Author

• Rebecca Anderson, University of Wisconsin, Madison