Political theater can be an effective way of highlighting your positions, even when you are in the minority. The Republican Party has a tendency to use political theater as their only form of communication because whether they are in the majority or the minority, they have no interest in creating popular policies or legislation. When they do create legislation it is usually in opposition to their faux-’small government’ philosophies, and frequently aims directly at various groups of Americans’ civil rights.
Nebraska’s state legislature is all gunked up with the Republican Party and a filibuster-proof majority. The state Senate has a new piece of legislation working its way through their halls. Is it a bill that would protect consumers? Is it going to keep businesses in the state? Create jobs? Nope. It’s called “LB 371: Prohibit an individual under nineteen years of age or under twenty-one years of age from being present at a drag show as prescribed.” Freedom! Backed by Nebraska state Sen. Dave Murman, the bill is exactly what it seems. According to Murman, who has never attended a drag show, “I think the vast majority of Nebraskans would agree that sexualized dancing and enhanced genitals is not appropriate for children to view.” Someone’s got “enhanced genitals” on the brain, right?
While the state legislature is mired in the swamp of Republican culture war politics, this does not mean that there aren’t still Democratic officials who are trying their best to represent the constituents who know there are more important things than chasing the terrifying specter of people dressed in drag, reading stories to other people. One of those people is the openly atheistic state Sen. Megan Hunt. Hunt has decided to add a very important amendment to Murman’s bill.
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Hunt has been openly opposed to the bill, filing a motion to have the bill killed in its entirety. Not only is it bigoted on the face of it, it isn’t even particularly clear in its supposed intentions—or maybe it is. She told Nebraska Public Media “It would make it illegal for kids in high school to perform certain plays. What about ‘Hairspray?’ Under this bill it would be illegal from me to take my 12 year old to go see ‘Hairspray’ at the Orpheum or at the Holland Center. And that makes no sense.” It would also possibly nix a few Shakespeare plays.*
Last week Hunt added an amendment to the bill to give Murman and others a little more to think about in regard to their Christian conservative hypocrisy in the matter. The opening text she would like to replace Murman’s opening text includes, “The Legislature finds that there is a well documented history of indoctrination and sexual abuse perpetrated by religious leaders and clergy people upon children. Abusers within churches and other religious institutions often use events like church or youth-group-sponsored camps and retreats to earn children's trust and gain unsupervised access to such children in order to commit such abuse.”
Ouch! But that isn’t all. Hunt’s amendment also makes it clear that kids shouldn’t be attending any of these kinds of summer camps, and definitely none of the types of rituals some religious folks have where alcohol is present—even if the alcohol is “ceremonial.” She makes sure that all of the requisite monetary fines and threats of criminal charges are included, as they are with Republican anti-LGBTQ legislation.
The story has gone a little viral, as Fox News picked it up in order to put the thoughts of atheists and “enhanced genitals” in the minds of its audience.
*Don’t tell Murman about how all of the Shakespeare’s plays were performed by men, and only men playing all of the parts.
