FILE - The William McKinley Monument is silhouetted in front of the west side of the Ohio Statehouse, April 15, 2024, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

By Megan Henry

Special to The Times

The Ohio House has passed a bill that would ban drag shows in public.

The House voted 63-30 to pass Ohio House Bill 249 during Wednesday’s session. Ohio State Rep. Jamie Callender, R-Concord, joined Ohio Democratic House members in voting no.

Such bans in other states have been repeatedly shot down by courts as unconstitutional government censorship of freedom of speech and expression.

The bill now goes to the Ohio Senate for consideration.

Republican state Reps. Angie King and Josh Williams introduced the bill.

“It closes a loophole that allows adult oriented sexual performances to fill into the public spaces where children are present,” King claimed. “The only purpose is to protect children and protect the innocence of Ohio’s children in both public and private spaces.”

The bill would prohibit an adult cabaret performance from taking place outside an adult cabaret.

It also broadens 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 lumps drag performers in with topless dancers, go-go dancers, strippers, and exotic dancers.

It has a specific carve-out to say that it wouldn’t “prohibit or restrict a bona fide film, theatrical, or other artistic endeavor or performance that is not obscene or harmful to juveniles.”

The bill also exempts breastfeeding from indecent exposure statutes.

Critics say the bill is vague and will create uncertainty and a chilling effect amid the threat of government censorship and felony charges under imprecise, overly broad language, though sponsors downplayed this.

“All this bill does is say you can’t engage in obscene performances in the presence of a minor,” Williams claimed.

Penalties in the bill range from a first degree misdemeanor if a performance happens in front of a juvenile, a fourth degree felony if the performance is obscene and happened in front of someone 12 years old and younger, and a fifth degree felony if the performance is obscene.

Ohio House Rep. Dontavius Jarrells, D-Columbus, said the bill singles out transgender people and those who are gender non-conforming.

“When you talk about what this bill really is … it is an attack on human lives,” he said.

Ohio House Rep. Beryl Brown Piccolantonio, D-Gahanna, said this bill is not needed to protect Ohio’s children.

“I’m embarrassed that we are spending any time at all on a culture war bill that doesn’t make our communities safer, but does have the potential to cost taxpayer dollars, to threaten economic activity and to frighten into hiding some of our already vulnerable community members,” she said.

Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima, claimed that calling the bill a drag ban bill is not accurate.

“It essentially is prohibiting certain displays of nudity to children,” he claimed.

Ohio House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn, D-Cincinnati, questions why the legislature is prioritizing this bill.

“The majority in the legislature is focused on drag shows, while Ohioans are worried about how to pay the bills,” he said.

The uncertainty of what the bill does and does not criminalize will cause some businesses to relocate or choose another state, Piccolantonio said.

“It will result in some organizations choosing another state for their conventions or for their events,” she said. “Ultimately, there will be some degree of economic loss to the state.”

Equality Ohio said this bill would also ban sports bras.

“In plain English, this bill gives government the unacceptable power to police what people wear. Drag is just the beginning,” CEO & Executive Director of Equality Ohio Dwayne Steward said in a statement.

“This bill takes regular, everyday activities and turns them into potential crimes, based on whether somebody else might be offended by what other people are wearing.”

Performers including Nina West testified against the bill in committee meetings.

This type of law has been blocked in other states for violating freedom of speech.

A Texas law banning some drag performers in public space went into effect last week, despite an ongoing lawsuit challenging the law.

A federal appeals court recently upheld an injunction against Montana’s drag ban.

Huffman believes Ohio’s bill is constitutional, but said “almost certainly it’s going to go to court” if it becomes law.

Follow Ohio Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on X or on Bluesky.

Original story can be found at https://ohiocapitaljournal.com