The following article was originally published in the Ohio Capital Journal and published on News5Cleveland.com under a content-sharing agreement.
A bill that would ban drag performers from performing anywhere that isn’t a designated adult entertainment facility had its first hearing last week in the Ohio House Criminal Justice Committee.
House Bill 245 would prevent “adult cabaret performance in a location other than an adult cabaret.”
It also expands the definition of adult cabaret performances to include “performers or entertainers who exhibit a gender identity that is different from the performer’s or entertainer’s gender assigned at birth using clothing, makeup, prosthetic or imitation genitals or breasts, or other physical markers.”
The bill doesn’t stop at drag performers. It also includes topless dancers, go-go dancers, strippers and exotic dancers.
“House Bill 245 has one purpose … to protect Ohio children,” state rep. Angie King, R-Celina, said in her sponsor testimony. “HB 245 is an important piece of legislation that will give Ohio families a safe place within their communities where they can take their children without fear of their children being exposed to explicit material and performances.”
She introduced the bill over the summer with state rep. Josh Williams, R-Sylvania, and it received swift backlash from the LGBTQ community.
“This proposed ban aims to strike at something deeper than drag performers; it aims to give power to others as to when they believe gender impersonation/drag is being performed,” Stonewall Columbus Executive Director Densil Porteous said in a statement over the summer.
“It directly aims to attack identities we must keep visibly at the forefront of our Pride because it is these identities that have always been the most under attack.”
King shared during her testimony that seeing a video of an event in her community where adults were dancing for children led to the bill.
“One of the performers, dressed in a skimpy thonged leotard, twerked and gyrated on the concrete,” King said. “This same adult, then seated on the ground with his legs spread open and raised towards the sky; gave a view of his crotch area for all to see, including small children.”
She made a point to say that public performances of Shakespeare and showing movies like Mrs. Doubtfire and Tootsie would not be outlawed by the bill and that transgender people would still be able to “express their gender as they go to a grocery store, the post office and live their daily lives.”
“HB 245 simply puts in place important measures to protect children from being exposed to cabaret performances that are marketed to adults with adult themes, imagery, and performances,” King said.
Williams echoed his co-sponsor’s statements, saying it’s time to update Ohio’s obscenity law.
“Adults who want to engage in adult activities do so in adult environments where children are not present,” he said. “If you want to engage in adult activities, make sure kids are not around.
Penalties under the bill range from a first-degree misdemeanor if the performance happens in front of a juvenile, a fifth-degree felony if the performance is obscene, and a fourth-degree felony if the performance is obscene and happens in front of someone 12 years old and younger.
Follow OCJ Reporter Megan Henry on Twitter.
