13 Shocking Quotes From the Latest Hearing to Ban Public Drag Performances in Ohio

This story was originally published by the Buckeye Flame and republished here with permission.
The Ohio House held a second hearing on Wednesday for HB 245, which would ban drag performances in locations other than “adult cabaret.”
The bill specifically calls out drag performers by referencing “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.”
Individuals could face felony charges if a juvenile is in attendance or if the performance is considered “obscene,” a subjective item in the Ohio Revised Code. [content-1] Wednesday’s hearing in the Criminal Justice Committee was proponent testimony, those in support of the bill.
Prior to the hearing, LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations released statements on the vague nature of the bill and the potential harm it could have on transgender Ohioans:

• “House Bill 245 aims to perpetuate discrimination and target LGBTQ+ identities, culture and expression. This legislation undermines fundamental freedoms and fosters further intolerance and marginalization,” said Equality Ohio Policy Manager Morgan Zickes.
• “HB 245’s broad and ambiguous language sets a troubling precedent that threatens not only the LGBTQ+ community but also the fundamental rights of all Ohioans,” added Sean McCann, policy strategist for the ACLU of Ohio.
• “By equating performing in drag or simply existing in public as a trans person with obscenity, HB 245 perpetuates hateful stereotypes, endangers the safety and well-being of our community, and many others across Ohio,” stated Dara Adkison, executive director of TransOhio.

[content-2] The first individual providing testimony was a Florida representative from Gays Against Groomers, an organization that has been repeatedly denounced as a hate group.
Much of the hearing focused on Celina, Ohio, where local officials say “obscene” acts were performed by drag artists and “harmful” signs were held aloft.
There were also dozens of pieces of written testimony in response to a call from Rep. Angie King (R-Celina) to submit testimony. Many of those submissions contained harmful anti-trans language that we will not be reprinting here.
Here are 13 of the most striking quotes from Wednesday’s hearing.
1. “Now, we wouldn’t be shocked if this bill faced some opposition, but let’s be clear, anyone opposing this bill is, in essence, telling on themselves.” -Jana Warnecke, Gays Against Groomers – Florida chapter. Right out of the gate, Warnecke attempted to cast opponents of HB 245 as being in favor of “exploiting and harming children."
2. “This is not what Pride was about.” -Warnecke, who somehow forgot the actual origins of Pride at the hands of Black trans women.
3. “Thank you for what your organization does. I appreciate the work that you all do.” -Josh Williams (R-Sylvania Township), going out of his way to praise Gays Against Groomers, a group that has said that transgender rights is an “anti-gay genocidal hate cult run by child predators.”
4. “I appreciate your work.” -Jean Schmidt (R-Loveland), who didn’t ask a question, but wanted to praise Gays Against Groomers, a group who has said “There is no such thing as queer youth.”
5. “Yes.” - Warnecke, responding to Rep. Richard Brown (D-Canal Winchester), who asked whether she thought all drag shows are harmful to children and obscene, ostensibly including Drag Story Hours that teach literacy to children and give out free books.
6. “7-year-old girls don’t have any money to stuff into G-strings.” -David Mahan, Center for Christian Virtue, drawing what he felt to be an appropriate comparison. [content-3]
7. “It seems we have a protected class that gets to do these things.” -Mahan, apparently forgetting that Ohio does not offer any legal protections to LGBTQ+ individuals in the areas of housing, employment or public accommodations.
8. “Several of the drag queens were discovered to be AFAB (assigned female at birth) performers who are essentially strippers.” -Shawn Meyer, a Celina pastor, completely mischaracterizing AFAB drag performers.
9. “Why don’t we hear of drag events in nursing homes? The answer seems obvious. One audience is far more impressionable than the other.” -Meyer, reinforcing one of many statements at the hearing characterizing drag performers as predators.
10. “I have served our community for over 14 years as the president of our city council. I also serve as a high school wrestling coach. Aside from being a pastor, which is my full-time job, I enjoy the titles of ‘husband’ and ‘father of four’ most of all.” -Jason King, pastor and Celina City Council president, who was pressed through several questions by Rep. Brown to reveal another title he holds is brother-in-law to Rep. Angie King, the bill’s co-sponsor.
11. “I absolutely believe (HB 245) will give us the tools that we need to enforce the laws already written.” -King, acknowledging that there are already laws on the books that protect children from obscenity.
12. “How often do children pretend to be, or want to grow up to be, Spider-Man, a mermaid, a princess, a Paw Patrol character, etc.?” -A.C., in submitted written testimony, alleging that children seeing drag performers will increase their desire to be drag performers
13. “All children raised in a healthy environment are acquainted with a healthy respect for shame. They inherently know to turn their head during a nude scene during a Rated R movie that is restricted to 17 and older.” - Pastor Jeff Touring, in submitted written testimony, perhaps maybe sorta not capturing the experiences of all children.
Ignite Action

Contact the members of the Criminal Justice Committee to make your thoughts known on HB 245.
To see a full list of Ohio’s LGBTQ+-related bills, click here .
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This story was originally published by the Buckeye Flame and republished here with permission.