Trying to ban drag shows is a real drag for other Republican politicians.
Nate Schatzline, a pastor and Texas state representative, has introduced legislation that would restrict drag performances, according to NBC News.
However, a video surfaced this week showing Schatzline as a teenager wearing a mini dress for a school project.
The 90-second video shows Schatzline dressed in black and a red mask jumping, walking and dancing in a park with three other young men who are also in drag to the song “Sexy Lady” by Javi Mula.
All four characters have nicknames, and Schatzline’s is “The Virgin.”
Several people checked with Schatzline to see if he was indeed in the video, and the initial response, although negative, suggested that he was.
Others claim Schatzline was just joking…
But the person who posted the video showed the wording on Schatzline’s own bill could be interpreted to mean that the behavior in the video could be criminal if the bill were to pass.
NBC News noted that although Schatzline’s performance in the video “would meet most dictionary definitions of ‘drag,’ it is unclear whether it would be prohibited under the law that Schatzline introduced in January.”
Schatzline’s bill, HB 1266, seeks to redefine venues that host “drag performances” and “permit the consumption of alcoholic beverages on the premises” as “sexually oriented businesses.”
It also defines a drag performance as “a performance in which a performer demonstrates a gender identity different from the performer’s gender assigned at birth using clothing, makeup, or other physical markers and sings, lip-syncs, dances, or performs in front of an audience for entertainment.”
Schatzline eventually commented on the video, saying that “dressing up as a joke at school for a theater project” not “an explicit display of sexual attraction.”
He also posted a response to this video.
The resurfaced video comes just days after a 1977 photo of Tennessee Governor Bill Lee in drag resurfaced as Republicans plan to sign legislation to make it illegal for “male or female impersonators” to perform in public.
In addition, Rep. George Santos (RN.Y.) admitted last month that he dressed in drag in Brazil but claimed he was not a “drag queen”.