A drag show during the 2019 Lexington Pride Festival at Courthouse Plaza in downtown Lexington, Saturday, June 29, 2019.
aslitz@herald-leader.com
Frankfort
A scaled-back version of a controversial bill taking aim at drag shows passed a Kentucky Senate committee Thursday morning, over the objections that the bill infringes on First Amendment rights.
Senate Bill 115, sponsored by Sen. Lindsey Tichenor, R-Smithfield, said the bill’s intent is not to be anti-LGBTQ, but pro-children.
The committee substitute introduced Thursday would prohibit drag shows — considered “adult performance” by the bill’s standards — from taking place on publicly owned property or “in a location where the person knows or should know the adult performance could be viewed” by a child.
A first offense would be a Class B misdemeanor, a second offense would be a Class A misdemeanor and any subsequent offenses would be Class D felonies.
Additionally, any business hosting such a performance where children are present could have their liquor and/or business licenses suspended or revoked.
The original version of the bill prohibited “adult-oriented businesses” — including drag shows — from operating within 1,000 feet of child care facilities, schools, public parks, homes or places of worship, all but shutting down drag across Kentucky.
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