Straight Male Rockers Performing in Drag to Protest Tennessee, Florida Laws Protecting Children

VALLEY CENTER, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 18: Musician Joshua Fleming of Vandoliers performs on st
Daniel Knighton/Getty Images

A growing number of straight male rockers are choosing to perform in drag to protest Tennessee and Florida laws that are designed to prevent drag queens from performing their frequently raunchy acts in front of children.

Groups including the country-punk Vandoliers,  the indie-rock Yo La Tengo, and the pop-rock band Guster have all donned dresses on stage in recent weeks to make a statement about the laws, according to a Yahoo Entertainment report.

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The Vandoliers recently performed in drag at a gig at a biker bar known as the Shed Smokehouse & Juke Joint in Maryville, Tennessee.  The all-male trio later auctioned off their dresses to benefit LGBT groups in the state, with the group describing Tennessee’s law as the “harmful new anti-drag bill.”

In reality, Tennessee’s law, which was passed in February, restricts drag queen shows and other sexually explicit acts from taking place in front of children or on public property where children may be present. As Breitbart News reported, a federal judge temporarily blocked the law on Friday, claiming it was “likely both vague and overly-broad.”

Vandoliers frontman Joshua Fleming told Yahoo Entertainment he hoped the stunt would change minds among the band’s fan base.

“This was just such a really respectful way for a bunch of smelly straight dudes to [protest] without being violent, being a problem, or offending a bunch of people,” he said, ” Just an act of kindness to a small community of people in rural Tennessee, maybe change a couple of country-bumpkin minds and move on. And it turned into our voice being out there.”

Yo La Tengo protested the Tennessee law during a Nashville performance in March, with the band saying in a statement through its label, Matador Records: “What we did last night couldn’t have been clearer, and requires no further comment.”

In Florida, the band Guster wore drag for an encore set during their gig at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall in Ponte Vedra. The band sarcastically thanked Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in a tweet.

In recent years, drag queens have aggressively pushed their often raunchy and sexually explicit form of entertainment on children through drag queen story hours at public libraries and live performances where children are among the audience.  Even some woke churches are allowing drag queens to perform for congregations.

As Breitbart News exclusively reported, Florida recently served a complaint on a bar in Miami that offers drag shows to children, and which was recently featured in viral videos showing a topless drag queen attempting to entertain a young girl.

Follow David Ng on Twitter @HeyItsDavidNg. Have a tip? Contact me at dng@breitbart.com

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