ABOVE: Photo via Aaron Perry Cruz/Facebook.
TAMPA | A fundraiser for local drag entertainers will be held March 9 at City Side Lounge to cover their costs to visit Tallahassee in protest of anti-LGBTQ legislation targeting their craft.
Republican state Rep. Randy Fine introduced House Bill 1423 March 3, filed as “Protection of Children.” Equality Florida deemed it “The Anti-Drag Bill” along with its companion Senate Bill 1438, advising lawmakers are targeting live performance art “to attack our drag community.”
Read their full description of the legislation below, shared with supporters March 7.
The Anti-Drag Bill (HB 1423/SB 1438): Live performance art, including drag, is a powerful form of freedom of expression that can educate, empower, and entertain. Florida law already prohibits exposing minors to shows considered sexually explicit or harmful, but this unnecessary bill expands state law to include vague language that can be used to attack our drag community. It threatens venues that host drag performances with steep fines and injects the government into a parent’s right to determine what art and entertainment content is appropriate for their own children.
Drag entertainers including Tampa Bay’s Brianna Summers helped organize a “Heel No! We Won’t Go!” gathering in response. They gathered March 6 in Kissimmee and Riverview “to come together and educate ourselves on what is to come and be prepared to start the movement.”
The measure also prompted Aaron Perry Cruz, also known as performer Ericka PC, to organize a fundraiser to send entertainers from Tampa to Tallahassee in protest. Read the text in full below.
“FLORIDA HAS LOST ITS’ GOD-FORSAKEN MIND! LGBTQ+ FRIENDS….. The Time to STAND-UP and STAND TOGETHER IS NOW‼️ With the Drag Community in Florida under attack by our very own Government – we cannot sit on the sidelines while DeSantis attempts to BAN DRAG PERFORMERS in OUR STATE! NO MA’AM!
We’re holding a SPECIAL FUNDRAISER this THURSDAY at City Side Lounge at 8pm to help raise money for Tampa’s Drag Community to get to Tallahassee and give DeSantis a piece of their mind in protest! Please stop by and help with what you can! We love our Drag performers and what they bring to our community. We attend their shows, we support their ventures…. now they need US!!!
“I am organizing the event with the help of Brianna Summers, Angelique Young and the owners of City Side Lounge De & Michael,” Cruz told Watermark. “They immediately offered their space for the event in open arms.
“I started this fundraiser due to the current political climate we find ourselves in today,” they continued. “After what happened in Tennessee and now they are trying to pass similar bills here in Florida, it was important to me and all involved to stand up and take action to advocate for the queer/drag community in Tampa Bay.”
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