Tennessee show law trying to erase drag culture, performer Bella DuBalle says

Tennessee lawmakers recently passed a law that restricts certain types of performances in public space, or any place where a child might see them. The restriction includes topless acts, strippers, or "male or female impersonators who provide entertainment that appeals to prurient interests."

Proponents of this bill describe the need to "protect children" from over-sexualized content, but many LGBTQ Americans feel like their art forms, and even their gender identity, have come under attack.

Tennessee is not the only state that has proposed laws like this. As this bill takes effect this week, ABC News' Start Here podcast spoke with Tennessee drag artist Slade Kyle about the state's new law.

START HERE: Slade, you do a lot of live shows, right? Can you describe your act for me?

SLADE KYLE: Sure. I am a full-time drag performer and I perform as Bella DuBalle. And I am the show host of "The Atomic Rose." So, I would say that my drag persona is kind of the intersection between Miss Piggy, Dolly Parton and Mister Rogers. Most of what I do is classic Southern drag: big hair, big flashy gowns, ballads and just a general good time and some Southern charm.

START HERE: And if this is not somebody's scene, just so we're all clear, like as a drag queen onstage, you're going by Belle DuBalle, the sort of female character. How do you identify offstage?

KYLE: Yeah, offstage I'm non-binary. I use they/them pronouns.

START HERE: Right. What was your reaction then to this law being passed?

KYLE: I wish I could say that I was surprised. When we heard the legislation introduced, I feared that living in such a red state it would probably pass and that the governor would indeed sign it. We're one of 19 states that are currently looking at such legislation, and I was hoping we would not be the first. But look at us out here pioneering. My initial reaction to this was a lot of fear, a lot of anger, you know, and we were worried. We were worried about our livelihood.

START HERE: Is there a sense of how it would affect an act like yours or any of these acts in town? Because it's rather ambiguous language. I mean, is there a sense of what would actually happen in a given scenario?

KYLE: The language is so ambiguous because, as you point out, it says that it's adult cabaret performances that appeal to prurient interest. And here in Tennessee, prurient means a morbid or shameful interest in sex. And so the district attorney has here, [Shelby County District Attorney] Steve Mulroy in Memphis made a statement that there is not a single drag show happening in this county that is in violation of this law. Because drag performances are not prurient; they are not sexual by nature. And so this law does not apply to us.

START HERE: Yeah, I was going to say, because this law, it says it's aimed at keeping children away from oversexualized material like it doesn't sound like . . . Would that be a problem?

KYLE: Well, no, we already have obscenity laws here in Tennessee. We have laws that firmly prohibit you from being able to do any sexual display in front of a minor. Our shows and our festivals have always adhered to those laws. So we were questioning, why this new legislation? It's all under this guise of 'we have to protect the children. We got to protect the children.'

So last week, four protesters, including myself, went to the grand opening of the YMCA in Whitehaven here in Memphis, because we heard word that the governor would be there speaking.

And my question to the governor was, 'Can you produce any evidence of a child being harmed or abused at a drag show?' He can't cite one, not a single instance has this ever occurred. So we're, we're, we're battling this amorphous thing that does not exist, rather than tackling real issues that face our kids here in Tennessee. Their attempt is to say that all drag is indeed adult cabaret. You know, the purpose of this bill is to try and classify all drag entertainers. There's another one now that just passed the House that will require all of us to get adult cabaret licenses. So we'll have to go before the stripper board and get an adult stripper license.

START HERE: Wait. You would have to get a stripper license for your drag act?

KYLE: Yes. I'm a minister and I have to go get a stripper's license to continue doing drag. And the whole thing is being done under this supposed guise of we have to protect these kids. But again, I reiterate, it's an invisible threat. There is no evidence to this. You know, our show is an all-ages show. That means that if a kid is under 18, they have to be accompanied by an adult. They can't just wander in off the street. Drag queens aren't just walking into public schools and things uninvited. These are things that you have to bring a child to.

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START HERE: Public libraries are actually kind of an interesting example. We've seen these things called Drag Queen Story Hour where drag queens show up in full drag to read children's books. It's been criticized by people who are made uncomfortable by it. It's often praised by parents who bring their kids…but that seems like something that seems overtly "sexual," even if it is gender-bendy. Do you have a sense that would be illegal under this bill?

KYLE: Oh, absolutely. Yeah. No, no, no drag in public. Yeah. So when I get invited to go to the library to read, they wouldn't want me doing that anymore. They don't want me marching in the parade anymore. Nothing in public that a child could view.

START HERE: Because that's considered "prurient."

KYLE: Right. My existence is considered prurient, right? That's the whole thing. It's like just being a drag queen. Not that I'm doing anything sexual. They're implicating that my, that I am inherently sexual or inappropriate.

START HERE: Well, that's actually the next thing I wanted to ask about. We've been talking about drag queens and drag performers. Can we just talk about trans people and non-binary people living their lives, because we've seen a lot of openly expressed fear from people saying 'oh forget performing…if I'm just going to a grocery store dressed in clothes someone thinks I shouldn't be wearing, they're going to try to get me arrested for "performing" my gender. Is that a real concern?

KYLE: That's my fear, you know, because right now there's so much misinformation surrounding the law. You know, people are publicizing drag has been banned in Tennessee. That's so inaccurate. But people will hear it and they will believe it. And so my fear is, if I wear this dress to Kroger, are they going to call the cops and say, 'Look, there's someone out here being obscene in front of my kids, you need to take them away.' This is a concentrated attack on the LGBT community of Tennessee. It's an attempt to tell us we don't want you here, or if you stay here, we're going to take your rights away.

START HERE: Where do you think that's coming from, though? Like bills like this and attitudes like this from these elected officials? Because I do think there's like lots of Americans who are like, yeah, sorry, I just don't like I want my kid to have to be confused about gender and being, like, preached to by this drag queen that comes in and says, yeah, this is normal. Or like, where do you think this response is sort of coming from?

KYLE: I think it's an attempt to control what their kids' worldview is. You know, like we're not trying to expose a child to anything other than maybe the ability to see themselves in an example. You know, for me, I had no examples of queer representation growing up, and it would have done me a lot of good to see a person that exemplified I have a future. I, too, could belong here in Tennessee. Maybe, maybe this isn't the end for me. So when I hear this, this idea that it's, it's about the kids, it's about protecting the kids-- I want to know about the queer kids. What about the trans kids that are here in Tennessee? Don't tell me they don't exist. I meet them at my brunches every single week.

The Trevor Project released that last year 45% of queer youth contemplated suicide. One out of five trans or gender non-conforming teens attempted suicide. And we're not at this, this highly increased risk because of our gender identity or our sexual orientation. It's because we live in a society that allows people to dehumanize us openly and it undervalues us. That is what weighs on us. And we know that these kids are less likely to be at risk for suicide if anyone in their life affirms them.

Homosexuality is not vampirism. You know, you cannot turn a kid queer. You can't do that. No one's trying to turn kids queer. We're trying to keep queer kids alive. And if you expose a child to queer culture and they're not, they're not inherently going to be queer already, the worst that it could do to them is inform their worldview that there are people out there that are different than them, that they might have to learn to get along with one day.

START HERE: Are you going to keep performing?

KYLE: Absolutely, yeah. I mean, this is my full-time job. I'm not going to quit. You know, this is, I'm used to talking to a bar, half of which people are listening. Now, the whole world is listening. And I'm not about to stop. You know, this is an important time.

START HERE: Are you afraid? Are you afraid that this is going to escalate in a way that gets you, I don't know, arrested or fined or whatever?

KYLE: I've made it 43 years without a charge. And if I catch one for a good cause, I think I'm OK with that.

START HERE: All right, well, you can still catch Bella DuBalle performances in Memphis for the foreseeable future. Slade Kyle, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

KYLE: You're very welcome. Thank you.

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