Theatrical union Actors' Equity, which represents actors and stage managers on Broadway and other professional stages across the country, has released a statement condemning recent political attacks aimed at trans and drag performers.
Though not referenced directly, the statement is likely in reference to a bill currently moving through the Arkansas legislature. Senate Bill 43 would classify venues that host drag performances in the same category as strip clubs and adult theatres, and ban drag performances from taking place in venues where children and teenagers are present. Critics of the measure say the legislation is written so broadly that it could impact theatrical productions of shows like Kinky Boots and Hairspray, or any production featuring an actor in drag.
Critics say the bill can also be used to target trans actors and ban them from performing, because the bill defines a “drag performance” as "someone who exhibits a gender identity that is different from a performer's gender assigned at birth using clothing, makeup, or other accessories that are traditionally worn by members of[,] and are meant to exaggerate the gender identity of[,] the performer’s opposite sex.”
Senate Bill 43 has passed the Senate in Arkansas on a 29-6 vote. It has now advanced to the Republican-controlled state house for a vote. If passed, Senate Bill 43 could serve as a model for similar bans in other states.
“We are witnessing not just attacks on expression but attacks on existence," reads Actors' Equity's statement. "The recent rise in legislation limiting gender-affirming health care, as well as the increase in both physical and legal threats to drag performances, must be named for what they are: a coordinated attack that seeks to eradicate transgender people. To be clear: transgender people are not living their lives in drag; they are living their lives authentically. The purposeful conflation of drag performance and transgender life is the latest tactic in a sickening campaign to delegitimize and dehumanize transgender people. This is abhorrent."
The union is going beyond speaking for their membership as performers, describing the current situation as a humanitarian crisis. "We see how attacks on performers are connected to the larger effort to strip transgender people of their constitutional rights, and we denounce it wholeheartedly. We stand with our transgender members and with all transgender people and call for an end to attacks—physical, legislative and otherwise.”
Read the statement in full below:
We are witnessing not just attacks on expression but attacks on existence. The recent rise in legislation limiting gender-affirming health care, as well as the increase in both physical and legal threats to drag performances, must be named for what they are: a coordinated attack that seeks to eradicate transgender people. To be clear: transgender people are not living their lives in drag; they are living their lives authentically. The purposeful conflation of drag performance and transgender life is the latest tactic in a sickening campaign to delegitimize and dehumanize transgender people. This is abhorrent.
Some of this legislation additionally places dangerous limitations on theatrical performances that surely runs afoul of our First Amendment rights as artists. When the right to free speech and expression is curtailed for some, we are all at risk. Nothing is more American than the First Amendment, and we must defend our right to free expression as well.
As a union of performing artists, we push hard at the bargaining table for better workplace protections for our members. Sadly, the moral panics inflamed by the people pushing an anti-trans agenda means that in addition to pushing for contract provisions like safe dressing rooms for transgender actors and gender-inclusive auditions, we must advocate for emergency action plans to protect our members in the event of violence.
Our concern for the safety of theatre workers and audience members is genuine, but our concern extends beyond the theatre walls. We see how attacks on performers are connected to the larger effort to strip transgender people of their constitutional rights, and we denounce it wholeheartedly. We stand with our transgender members and with all transgender people and call for an end to attacks – physical, legislative and otherwise.
