Anti-drag Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

For the past 10 years, RuPaul’s Drag Race has delighted fans with the Rusical — a musical production during each season that features the remaining contestants performing their take on a famous show. The concept has become somewhat of a staple on the series, though none have been quite as topical as Season 15’s Wigloose.

Goloka Bolte to assemble a group of queens that would lay the foundation for a fresh era. Says Bolte, “After 15 seasons and Drag Race’s popularity, word gets out fast that we’re casting.  But we can’t ever let it fall to chance that queens will just apply and always make sure we’re scouting and encouraging queens to try out.” Aside from banking recommendations and scouring the internet, Bolte says part of her casting process involves reaching out to bars and clubs around the country. “And we take in drag shows when we can.”

The shade of it all! Maren Morris poked fun at the hypocrisy of the country music industry as state legislatures across the United States attempt to pass anti-drag and anti-trans legislation.

Hayley Kiyoko will continue to use her platform for good.

Tool‘s Maynard James Keenan protested Florida’s new anti-drag ban on stage at the band’s Daytona Beach gig last night (May 21).On Sunday, the band played the Welcome To Rockville festival, and Keenan appeared on stage in drag, protesting the new bill that became law this week.The law, signed by Governor Ron DeSantis, prohibits minors from attending drag shows amongst a number of other anti-trans policies.This year’s Welcome To Rockville was an all-ages festival, meaning that Keenan was technically in breach of the new law for his actions.See footage from the show, in which Keenan wore a blonde wig, red lipstick and fake breasts, below.Maynard of TooL (a perfect circle and puscifer also) is an absolute legend. Performing last night, in drag at their Florida show.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Charlize Theron participated in the recent “Drag Isn’t Dangerous” telethon and sent a stern message to conservative lawmakers seeking to ban drag queens from performing: “We love you queens. We’re in your corner and we’ve got you, and I will fuck anybody up who’s trying to fuck with anything with you guys.” “There are so many things that are hurting and, really, killing our kids, and we all know what I’m talking about right now and it ain’t no drag queen,” Theron said in a video. “If you’ve ever seen a drag queen lip-sync for her life, it only makes you happier, it only make you love more, it makes you a better person,” “Please support all the great organizations that are out there helping all of this nonsense go away like it should,” the Oscar winner added. “All of these incredibly stupid policies. Bye! No more room for hate, only love, and love equals drag queens!”

Treasure Coast Newspapers.The bill is designed to block establishments from allowing children to view any “adult live performance,” defined as any show, exhibition, or other presentation in front of a live audience which…depicts or simulates nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or specific sexual activities…lewd conduct, or the lewd exposure of prosthetic or imitation genitals or breasts.”Violators of the law can potentially have their license to serve liquor yanked. While defenders of drag shows argue that they are not inherently sexual, the fact that some shows are more risqué has led anti-LGBTQ opponents to deem the entire art form inappropriate for children and potentially problematic.And the possible presence of drag queens in public led organizers to cancel the parade, which always had been open to people of all ages. Organizers also restricted admission to Pridefest events based on a separate law prohibiting the sale of alcohol to those under the age of 21.“The city has decided that with the likelihood that the Governor will sign the latest bill into effect this evening, that we will need to be on the side of caution and has required us to make this necessary change,” Pride of the Treasure Coast wrote on its Facebook page.

Lizzo used her concert in Knoxville, Tennessee on Friday (April 21) to speak out in protest of the state's recent legislation aimed at restricting drag performance in public. She was joined at the Thompson-Boling Arena by a large group of drag queens, including Drag Race alumni Kandy Muse, Aquaria, Vanessa Vanjie Mateo, during her song "Everybody’s Gay." Read Next: Lizzo and SZA join forces for “Special” remix The bill, first passed in March, effectively bans drag performances in public places and in front of children, with first-time violators facing a misdemeanor charge.

Lizzo didn’t do it, but she was advised to cancel her performances in Tennessee over the weekend.

Actors’ Equity Association has filed an amicus brief in Tennessee opposing that state’s new law – the first in the nation – intended to limit or ban some drag shows.

signed a bill that banned “adult cabaret entertainment” on public property or in locations where it can be viewed by minors, including “topless dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, male or female impersonators, or similar entertainers.”Critics of the law, which went into effect April 1, say that categorizing drag as “adult entertainment” automatically deems them sexualized performances. They also argue the language surrounding “male and female impersonators” is inherently anti-trans.At least a dozen other states are considering similar anti-drag legislation. It was a topic of discussion at the recent taping of the “RuPaul’s Drag Race” finale.For Season 15 contestant Aura Mayari, the anti-drag law hits close to home.

A federal judge in Tennessee has blocked the state’s anti-drag law from going into effect for 14 days. Photo: United States District Court, Western District of Tennessee.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic During the opening monolog at Sunday night’s CMT Music Awards, broadcast from Austin on CBS, there was a comedic bit in which Kelsea Ballerini and Kane Brown exchanged anniversary presents to celebrate their cohosting of the show for the third consecutive time. Brown gave Ballerini a cowboy hat, and she reciprocated by giving him a pink hat to put on in return. At least a few audience members shared a joke about the exchange: By wearing pink, would Brown be breaking Tennessee’s recently passed law that some believe would ban most drag performances in the state, if they were back home? Viewers whose minds went there during that silly opening were just kidding — but Ballerini really went there later in the three-hour telecast, when she chose four “RuPaul’s Drag Race” queens to perform with her as she sang “If You Go Down (I’m Goin’ Down Too).” That song, off her 2022 album “Subject to Change,” is Ballerini’s anthem of female friendship — and, with the way the CMT Awards routine played out, she very much seemed to be counting drag performers as among those friends. The performance was playful and ostensibly non-political, and in a different year might not have raised very many shaved or unshaved eyebrows. In spring 2023, it was hard to read it as anything other than a statement of: If drag queens are brought down, the rest of us will be dragged down with them.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, the Emmy-winning producers behind “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and co-founders of World of Wonder, have responded to the wave of anti-drag legislation being introduced by GOP lawmakers, calling it “un-American.” Speaking with Variety over Zoom, Barbato said the bills — which are working their way through at least 11 state legislatures and threatening to restrict or prohibit drag show performances — are all part of an “insidious” campaign. “It’s been going on and it’s orchestrated by a minority,” Barbato said. “They have been successful in these hideous laws. That same minority is threatening the civil rights of the LGBTQ+ community. They are a threat and we must take them seriously.”

Madonna has added a date in Nashville, Tennessee to her upcoming world tour, a performance meant to protest the state's anti-trans legislation taking effect on April 1. The bill, passed in March, restricts drag performances in public places and in front of children, with first-time violators facing a misdemeanor charge.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Transgender “RuPaul’s Drag Race” star Gottmik is speaking out against the spread of legislation being pushed throughout the U.S. that bans drag queen performances as well as health care for trans people. “I actually can’t believe that we are turning back time like this,” she told me at Versace’s pre-Oscars fashion show on Thursday in West Hollywood. “But the queer community isn’t going anywhere. So no matter what you’re gonna try, we are here. And we’re going to be loud and proud. I think this is just a wake up call for all of us to be louder and prouder than we ever have been before.” Gottmik says she’s hopeful the queer community will prevail but that doesn’t mean she’s not worried. “The last round of bills has scared me a little bit and affected my mental health a little bit, to be honest,” she said. “But I just had to pick myself up and realize that we aren’t going anywhere. I’m so proud. Even in the car on the way to the Versace show today I was thinking about how cool it is that I’m a trans man able to dress in drag and go to the Versace show in Los Angeles. It’s just unbelievable.”

Actors’ Equity Association has condemned Tennessee’s new legislation restricting drag performance, urging theaters in the state to “join us in rejecting it entirely and lobbying for its elimination.”

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor RuPaul, the face of the “Drag Race” franchise, has responded to the recent wave of anti-drag and anti-trans legislation introduced by Republican lawmakers in the U.S. In an Instagram video on Wednesday, the Emmy winner called the bills “a classic distraction technique” and urged Americans to register to vote. “Hey, look over there! A classic distraction technique, distracting us away from the real issues that they were voted into office to focus on: jobs, healthcare, keeping our children safe from harm at their own school,” RuPaul said. “But we know that bullies are incompetent at solving real issues. They look for easy targets so they can give the impression of being effective. They think our love, our light, our laughter and our joy are signs of weakness. But they’re wrong because that is our strength.”

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Tennessee’s aggressive legislative moves against drag performances have prompted a host of pro-LGBTQ artists from different genres to come together for a March 20 benefit concert at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, dubbed “Love Rising,” that will raise funds for the Tennessee Equality Project and several other local pride organizations. Among those taking part in the Bridgestone show are Maren Morris and Brothers Osborne, two artists that have spoken up about LGBTQ issues in the often quiet mainstream country world. Others on the bill from the rock, pop, Americana and alternative realms include Paramore’s Haylee Williams, Sheryl Crow, Jason Isbell, Amanda Shires, Allison Russell, Yola, Brittany Howard and Hozier. Julien Baker, Joy Oladokun, Jake Wesley Rogers, Mya Byrne and the Rainbow Coalition Band round out the packed lineup. Other special guests are expected to be added.

Republicans are really out here fighting drag queens across the country!

CNN that the new bill “is not targeting any group of people”. “It does not ban drag shows in public,” he said. “It simply puts age restrictions in place to ensure that children are not present at sexually explicit performances.”❤️

According to the Associated Press, Lee was visibly angry when confronted with the image.“What a ridiculous question that is,” Lee said to reporters.

NBC News reports the editor of Living Blue in Texas, the “premier outlet for Democratic, Liberal, and Progressive news and opinion,” posted video of GOP state Rep.