Honey Mahogany Talks Anti-Drag Legislation With Blavity | Blavity - video Dailymotion

Blavity

Founder, Drag Performer, Singer, Activist and Politician Honey Mahogany discusses anti-drag legislation with Blavity.

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00:00Hi, I'm Honey Mahogany. I'm a founding queen of Drag Queen Story Hour and a RuPaul's Drag Race alum,

00:05and I'm here with Blavity to discuss anti-drag legislation.

00:09Currently, there are several different drag bans happening in several different states.

00:13I mean, Tennessee was a really big one. Florida is another.

00:17They're talking about drag bans in Texas as well, other states as well.

00:21I mean, it's a bit overwhelming.

00:23There have been almost 500 pieces of legislation that have been introduced

00:27in this last legislative cycle.

00:30That is really, really remarkable. It's more than has ever been introduced before,

00:34and it is absolutely an onslaught and an attack on our rights.

00:40And thankfully, in some places, we have judges who are finding that these laws are actually

00:48unconstitutional, and they are pushing back. And they're unconstitutional for a variety of reasons.

00:54One, they infringe upon our basic human rights. The other is that oftentimes they are overly broad.

01:01And also, when you are legislating things that can possibly infringe on people's rights,

01:07you have to provide a valid reason as to why you're doing that.

01:11And of course, none of these laws, as much as Republicans love to talk about how they

01:16are doing this to protect the children, none of them have any basis in reality,

01:20science, or evidence. And so they are unable to justify any of these laws that are being passed.

01:26Unfortunately, it is up to a judge's discretion.

01:30But the good news is the system is working, and that these laws are being challenged,

01:35and that we do have some good judges who are actually looking at this.

01:39And even though some of them have been appointed by, for example, President Trump,

01:43and are potentially conservative, they are realizing that these laws are really unconstitutional,

01:50and that it is their job to say so. So that has been really, really comforting to see.

01:55Though I will say that this hasn't always been the case for every law.

01:59And so I am really worried about what is happening in Florida right now.

02:04It is really, really scary to see the way in which Ron DeSantis is really basing his entire

02:11presidential campaign on his ability to discriminate against the LGBTQ community.

02:17I think for me, you know, I actually started doing Drag Queen Story Hour because

02:25I actually had friends that would say, you know,

02:27you're the kind of drag queen that I can bring home to mom.

02:31And to be clear, you know, I think drag is an art form. And like any other art form,

02:36drag can be all across the spectrum in terms of, you know, its appropriateness for children.

02:42You know, it can be definitely drag performances that are more geared towards an adult audience.

02:50It can also be a drag performance that is geared towards a young audience or

02:55an audience of children. We can make that distinction.

02:58We do it all the time, whether it be for books or films or shows or whatever.

03:03And, you know, for me, drag is a part of who I am and drag is also a performance.

03:09And like any other character, actor, performer, it can be larger than life.

03:18And oftentimes that is what appeals to children, right?

03:21We are trying to make drag queens out to be

03:25predators or, you know, using the word groomers. That is absolutely not the case.

03:31The way in which people can create a more affirming and positive society for transgender people,

03:37for all of our communities, is to get engaged in local politics.

03:43People love to show up for a presidential election,

03:45but it is your statewide elections, your city council votes, your county elections.

03:51Those are the ones that will have direct impact on your day-to-day lives.

03:55Everything from whether or not your streets are getting paved

03:58to whether people are being denied access to health care,

04:02whether people are allowed to open up a business.

04:04I mean, these elections are incredibly important and that is why

04:09certain people are investing so much in preventing people from being able to vote.

04:15So the most important thing we can do is, again, get to the voting booths,

04:19educate ourselves on the issues, and also encouraging young people to vote.

04:25Pride is definitely an opportunity for drag to happen.

04:30Many people will do drag for the first time during Pride.

04:33It's either Halloween or Pride, you know, but one of the two gay high holidays.

04:39I think that Pride is also definitely an opportunity for drag queens to make some money.

04:44So hopefully, you know, all the people who are throwing Pride parties,

04:50whether you be community organizations or corporate, you know, parties,

04:55that's how a lot of our community makes money right now.

04:58So make sure that you are supporting the drag community, that you are

05:02booking drag performers, that you're not cowing to, you know, anti-drag laws and,

05:08you know, to extremists on the right, that you are taking a stand

05:12and making sure that our drag community and our trans community is feeling supported.

Honey Mahogany Talks Anti-Drag Legislation With Blavity | Blavity

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