When I first read an article this week about the prohibition on public drag performances in Tennessee, I actually thought it was a joke. More specifically, because this is the week leading up to Purim, I thought it was what we often call “Purim Torah.” Purim Torah isn’t about Purim, but because on Purim things get silly and topsy-turvy, people create satirical bits that often pull from current news or community happenings. To hammer it home, for centuries men have dressed in drag on Purim. On this holiday that asks us to dress up in costume, men have - and in many very traditional communities still do - dress up women. And they go all out.
I read the article again, and then found another to confirm its truth. To be honest, my initial thought was a complete flabbergasted wonder at why people felt the need to police what someone else wears. Most people don’t end up at a drag show unintentionally, so wouldn’t the people in attendance know what they were signing up for, and want it? But it isn’t just about policing what people wear, it’s further denigration and criminalization of an already marginalized community. Trying to prohibit drag is outlawing an art form that has been sacred to the LGBTQ community.
On Purim, we are asked to dress up in costume not just because costumes can be fun. We dress up because there is power in masking and revealing. The tradition believes that when we dress up, we actually allow ourselves to reveal something new about ourselves. There’s an understanding that we all go about our regular lives muting parts of ourselves for various reasons, but there is a day when we can expose. A day when we can try on a new identity. It is a covering up in order to reveal. Because when we take on a new identity, when we uncover and amplify a small part of ourselves, we might find some power that we didn’t know we had before. Afterall, that’s what happened with Queen Esther and her ability to save the Jews. She hid her identity as a Jew in order to reveal her bravery and her power. It was ultimately her concealing of herself that allowed her to save her people.
In 1969, it was drag queens and trans women that organized the Stonewall riots. In a world that criminalized homosexuality, police riots on drag clubs were common. It was a community largely made up of people dressed in drag that found the inner power to make change. These riots escalated into fights for civil rights for the LGBTQ community. It was drag performers, masking and revealing all at once, that helped pave the way for rights granted to LGBTQ folks.
I pray that our state government changes course. I believe these elected officials are making a mistake, baselessly and dangerously targeting the queer community. And I hope they can realize that there is beauty revealed even in an art form they may not understand.
