- Slug: Audio-Drag Protest. By Amber Victoria Singer
- Runtime: 4:17
- Downloadable audio here. (Note: Some web browsers may not support media download)
uu(0:32) DS: (Record your message at the tone. When you are finished, hang up or press pound for more options.) “Hi there, this message is for John Kavanagh, this is Daddy Satan and we are marching here today at the Capitol peacefully and we are marching for the right of drag, we are marching for the right to choice,”
THAT’S PROTEST ORGANIZER AND DRAG KING NOELLE CAÑEZ [ KAHN-YEZ ], WHO GOES BY DADDY SATAN. CAÑEZ IS LEAVING A MESSAGE FOR STATE SENATOR JOHN KAVANAGH, WHO HAS SPONSORED A NUMBER OF ANTI-QUEER BILLS.
DS: And we all just had something that we wanted to let you know. (Arizona loves drag!)”
[AMBI UNDER]
AND EVERYONE ELSE? THEY’RE PROTESTERS. THEY WERE AT ARIZONA’S CAPITOL ON SUNDAY TO SPEAK AGAINST PROPOSED LEGISLATION THAT WOULD TARGET DRAG PERFORMANCES, THE USE OF PREFERRED PRONOUNS IN SCHOOLS AND ABORTION ACCESS.
BUT THE ANTI-DRAG BILLS WERE AT THE FOREFRONT OF THE DEMONSTRATION.
DS: “I did my first drag show in March of 2021, 2022, I can’t quite remember… And to me drag means self expression, and it means art.”
[AMBI UNDER FADES OUT]
SENATE BILL 1026 WOULD PROHIBIT STATE MONEY AND TAXES FROM BEING USED FOR DRAG PERFORMANCES THAT WOULD BE SEEN BY MINORS – THINK OF A STORYTIME WITH A DRAG QUEEN AT A PUBLIC LIBRARY… SENATE BILL 1028 WOULD RESTRICT WHERE AND WHEN DRAG PERFORMANCES MAY TAKE PLACE… AND SENATE BILL 1030 WOULD REQUIRE BUSINESSES TO GET A PERMIT IN ORDER TO HOLD DRAG PERFORMANCES. CAÑEZ SAID THAT ALTHOUGH THE BILLS TARGET DRAG, THEY ALSO COULD HAVE A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON TRANSGENDER PEOPLE SPECIFICALLY.
DS: “The language used in the bills states that people who dress in clothing opposite of their gender assigned at birth… That language is super dangerous for our trans community because they can go and use that wording to discriminate against a trans person just living their day-to-day life. Say a trans woman is walking down the street. Police can give her a ticket, they can fine her for dressing in clothing opposite of her gender assigned at birth.”
ERICA CONNELL IS A DRAG ARTIST WHO GOES BY THE WEIRD VIOLET. SHE WAS EASY TO SPOT IN THE CROWD IN HER BRIGHT, CURLY PURPLE WIG. CONNELL CALLED THE PROPOSED LEGISLATION TROJAN BILLS THAT ARE HIDING HATE.
(4:00) “It seeks to criminalize even our art forms. Criminalize you as an individual.”
AT LEAST SEVEN OTHER STATES HAVE INTRODUCED BILLS RESTRICTING DRAG PERFORMANCES. CONNELL SAID SHE BELIEVES THERE ARE MORE IMPORTANT ISSUES AT HAND, LIKE HOMELESSNESS, EDUCATION AND THE PRISON SYSTEM.
(3:40) “What we are looking at in the Arizona government is he’s putting forth bills to distract from other problems, from the actual problems.”
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WITH THE NONPROFIT SUPPORT EQUALITY ARIZONA SCHOOLS WERE AT THE MARCH AS WELL. 15-YEAR-OLD KANIX GALLO [ CAN-ICKS GAHH-LOW ] SAID HE BELIEVES THE BILLS ARE HARMFUL, EVEN THOUGH THEY’RE UNLIKELY TO PASS.
KG: “It’s scaring our youth. It’s terrifying… It’s showing how the people who are in our Senate and our legislature are thinking, and if we didn’t have a governor who is going to veto these bills for us they would be passed.”
DAWN SHIM IS A 17-YEAR-OLD WHO IS ALSO WITH SUPPORT EQUALITY ARIZONA SCHOOLS. THEY SPOKE ABOUT A BILL THAT WOULD MAKE IT ILLEGAL FOR TEACHERS TO USE STUDENTS’ PREFERRED PRONOUNS WITHOUT A NOTE FROM A PARENT.
(2:54) “As students who can’t really vote, we are on the forefront of these issues… It all comes back to limiting the expression of queer trans students in schools. Oppressing them, not allowing them to use preferred pronouns, not allowing them to use the name they prefer, that’s creating a marginalized space for some of our most vulnerable people today.”
WHEN THEY SPOKE TO THE CROWD, SHIM TALKED ABOUT THE NEGATIVE IMPACT ANTI-LGBTQ BILLS HAVE ON YOUNG PEOPLE.
(20:22) “Two weeks ago, on the lawn right there, we set out 180 body bags to represent the 1.8 million queer kids across America that have contemplated suicide over this past year… As I was stuffing 180 body bags, I couldn’t help but think of my peers. Of the kids I go to school with. When you’re passing these measures, you’re allowing kids like us to feel harmed. To want to kill themselves! They’re killing kids.”
AFTER LISTENING TO THE SPEECHES, HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE TOOK A LAP AROUND THE CAPITOL. THEY WRAPPED AROUND THE BLOCK, CHANTING AS THEY MARCHED.
Arizona loves drag! Arizona loves drag! Arizona loves drag! (or another chant)
FOR CRONKITE NEWS IN PHOENIX, I’M AMBER VICTORIA SINGER.
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