Legislators from at least seven states — Arizona, Idaho, Michigan, Montana, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas — have proposed anti-drag laws in recent months.

“This is really brand new,” said Sarah Warbelow, legal director for the Human Rights Campaign. “Prior to this, there had been attacks on drag story hours at libraries by conservative entities and there had been a lot of critiques, but not legislative attacks.” There were at least 141 anti-LGBTQ protests, threats and violent actions against drag events and venues in the US last year, a report from LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD found.

One bill proposed Friday in Arizona would make it a misdemeanour to put on a drag performance in a public place. The change would classify drag as an “adult cabaret performance” similar to topless dancers or strippers, according to the bill text. Another bill introduced in the state last week would ban the use of state money for drag shows for anyone under 18, essentially prohibiting appearances at schools and public libraries.

In November, a Texas legislator introduced a bill that would classify venues that host drag shows as “sexually oriented” businesses, making it a misdemeanour to admit anyone under 18 years old.

Conservative politicians are targeting drag entertainers as part of a larger anti-LGBTQ push, specifically around issues of gender identity. GOP lawmakers, including Florida Senator Marco Rubio, have falsely claimed that drag events such as story hours where performers read children’s books to kids and brunches for families, aim to sexualize children.

“I was proud to file legislation that would ban any type of drag show that is sexual in nature from being performed in any place where kids will be around to see it,” tweeted Tennessee State Senator Jack Johnson after proposing a drag-show ban in the state. Another Tennessee bill seeks to classify drag performers as adult entertainers and require them to obtain licences.

“Leader Johnson’s bill is not anti-drag,” Molly Gormley, Johnson’s press secretary, said in an emailed statement to Bloomberg News. “Characterising it as such is disingenuous at best. The bill is aimed at protecting children from being exposed to sexually explicit drag shows inappropriate for children. It is similar to laws that prohibit children from going to a strip club.”

Violence and protests have accompanied the rise in anti-LGBTQ sentiment and rhetoric. The Proud Boys, an extremist far-right group, has shown up to and in some cases shut down events in California and Texas, and a man firebombed a doughnut shop in Oklahoma after it hosted a drag event. Colorado-based Club Q, where a deadly shooting killed five people, had hosted a drag performance earlier in the day and was promoting a drag brunch for all ages the next day.

Chris Sanders, the executive director of the Tennessee Equality Project, an LGBTQ rights nonprofit worries the legislation will lead to more incidents. “If the bills pass and drag is criminalised or relegated to 18 and up spaces only, that is dangerous for the performers,” he said. “It’s also leading to this long-term lie that somehow drag queens and trans people are dangerous to kids. Kids love costumes and they love imagination and creativity.”

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