"A Clear Attack On The Queer Community Under Pretext"

Updated Feb. 4, 2026 at 5:05 p.m.

Republicans on Wednesday cast drag performers as immoral and predatory during a House committee hearing, invoking familiar rhetoric that equated drag with grooming and accused performers of subliminally pushing children to be transgender.

But Democrats pushed against those arguments in an oftentimes testy back-and-forth that eventually revealed the true target of a bill that would limit drag performances: LGBTQ+ people.

The bill, HB 2589, would criminalize allowing a minor to view a drag performance or enter a venue where one is taking place. Violations would be classified as a Class 4 felony, a designation typically reserved for serious violent and property crimes.

Arizona is not alone. Lawmakers in South Carolina are considering similar legislation this session, including SB 733, which mirrors Arizona’s proposal, and SB 47, which would prohibit state funds from supporting literacy programs involving drag performers, such as Drag Queen Story Hour.

Democrats argued the committee selectively invoked parental rights while stripping them away when it came to LGBTQ+ families and communities. Rep. Alma Hernandez (D-Tucson), in a pointed exchange, said the committee had spent hours debating parental choice only to abandon it when convenient.

“We spent three hours talking about parents' rights,” Hernandez said. “And now it’s, ‘just kidding, we care about this.’”

“It is not our job to sit here and target one community,” she added, directing her remarks to Rep. Lupe Diaz (R-Benson), who had framed the bill as a matter of morality. “If it wasn’t about the gay community or the trans community, you wouldn’t just say what you did.… You talk about the Constitution, but you only apply it when it’s convenient.”

For more than half an hour before public testimony began, lawmakers traded barbs and debated whether the state should regulate morality, sexuality, and religion.

“We do regulate morality,” said bill sponsor, freshman Rep. Michael Way (R-Queen Creek). “Why do we do that? Because we want to protect children from predators.”

Hernandez said she doesn’t believe that the government is entitled to regulate everything that makes her colleagues uncomfortable: "I believe in the separation of church and state."

Drag Performers, Parents Testify Their Fears

Outside that ideological clash, the stakes were made visible in the room itself.

Heels on and faces painted, drag performers from across Arizona packed the House hearing to oppose the bill that would make it a felony for minors to attend — or even be present at — their performances, placing shows in the same criminal category as aggravated assault and robbery.

Performers said they organized carpools, coordinated testimony and filled the hearing room to prevent the bill from advancing quietly — and to force lawmakers to confront how the policy would function in real life, not just in theory.

One of those performers, Anna Molly, took to the floor in a chainmail headpiece, a billowing white dress and drawn-on mustache.

“If this bill is passed, if I performed in front of someone younger than 18 years of age, looking like this,” she said, “I could be convicted alongside people who commit certain types of aggravated assault and misconduct involving weapons.”

Republican committee members questioned Molly about the rules and regulations governing all-ages drag shows. Molly, who said she has hosted and performed in numerous all-ages events, described the strict standards performers follow to avoid sexually explicit content in front of children.

Way asked why such rules are in place.

“Because of people like you!” a performer from the gallery shouted, which prompted the committe chairman to demand their immediate removal.

Francisco Lopez, a parent, told lawmakers he was struggling to understand why the state would threaten him with a felony for making decisions about his three children.

“I believe that I have the God-given right to make a decision for what’s best for my children,” Lopez said.

He said he did not believe taking his children to a drag bingo event should place him in the same category as violent offenders. Way questioned him using hypothetical examples, asking whether he would consider it appropriate for children to tip performers wearing skin-tight leather clothing.

Way appeared to be referencing a widely circulated 2022 incident at a Dallas gay bar, where a venue advertised a family-friendly drag event. A video showed performers in body suits receiving tips from attendees, including minors.

 “Parents should have the right to make those decisions for themselves,” he pushed back, adding that children are capable of understanding what they see when guided by their families.

A Flagstaff-based 28-year-old drag artist who performs as Miasma said the bill relies on fear-driven assumptions that conflate drag with sexual content.

“The underlying assumption here is a conflation between queerness and promiscuity,” she said.

Miasma described performing at all-ages events, including an annual celebration at Flagstaff’s Heritage Square, where her shows focus on costuming and character work.

“Kids love that kind of artistry. They love seeing people dress up,” she said. “To that kid, I’m a Disney princess right now.”

Dolor Darling, a local drag queen and organizer with the Arizona Students’ Association, attended the hearing to hold lawmakers from both parties accountable — particularly in an election year.

Darling said the bill relies on a flattened view of drag that ignores how performers already differentiate between adult and family-friendly spaces: “There’s a reason why on drag show posters you see ‘21-plus,’ ‘18-plus,’ ‘family-friendly.' I’m not going to do burlesque for a child.”

Both performers pointed to contradictions in how the bill defines drag, particularly its focus on “gender expression that differs from the person’s biological sex or normal gender presentation.”

Darling, who performs as a female persona, said the bill would not apply to her in practice because she was born female. Miasma, a transgender woman, said it would — both in and out of drag — opening the door to broad criminalization of gender-nonconforming expression.

“If I’m out in public wearing a dress and a kid is near me, how does that work out?” Miasma said. “If cross-dressing in and of itself was sexually explicit, they wouldn’t need another rule saying you also can’t be sexually explicit.”

The bill extends beyond performers and venues to parents and guardians who allow their children to attend — or potentially encounter — a drag performance.

A Pattern Across the Nation

HB 2589 is part of a broader wave of model legislation introduced nationwide in recent years. Similar measures have passed in Tennessee and Montana, while states including Florida, Texas and Arkansas have enacted restrictions on “adult performances” that critics say are used to target drag.

The proposal is one of 23 bills LOOKOUT is tracking this session that would limit LGBTQ+ civil rights or advance priorities long promoted by conservative advocacy groups in Arizona. A similar Arizona bill in 2023 sought to classify drag as burlesque and was vetoed by Gov. Katie Hobbs.

Lawmakers then also tried to argue that their bill didn’t target LGBTQ+ people. 

Way has also introduced legislation this session to further restrict access to pornography, aligning with proposals outlined in Project 2025’s “Mandate for Leadership,” a policy blueprint backed by the Heritage Foundation and allied organizations, including Alliance Defending Freedom, the Family Research Council and the American Legislative Exchange Council.

Way also holds a near-perfect score on Turning Point USA’s legislative tracker, which ranks lawmakers based on adherence to the group’s platform blending Christian ideology with public policy.

Way did not respond to requests for comment, but during the hearing he maintained a position that drag was dangerous and sexual in nature.

Despite forceful pushback from Democrats, the bill advanced on party lines through the Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee.

Rep. Brian Garcia (D-Tempe) said the bill was a “clear attack on the queer community under pretext,” he said. “I look forward to the governor’s veto.”

In a follow-up with LOOKOUT, Garcia went on to say, “We want to talk about supporting children? Let's talk about the cost of childcare. Let’s talk about the real issues.”

After the hearing, he and other legislators led the performers to the public gallery in the House, where they were introduced one-by-one and commended for their advocacy.