[dramatic music] - Tonight a push from Republican lawmakers to restrict drag shows in North Carolina.

A bill filed today.

- Texas Senate passed two bills today aimed at keeping children from seeing drag performers.

- The Florida legislature passed a law that would ban drag.

- Montana is now the first state to ban people dressed in drag from reading books to children at public venues like libraries and schools.

These events are often called Drag Queen Story Hours.

- Drag Story Hour is a program that educates kids, teaches them to love themselves, but also love each other, not be so judgmental of other people and be more accepting of people that might be different than you.

"Once upon a time, there were two kinds.

There was this and there was that."

You see we have a little blue bunny and a little yellow bird.

- Drag Story Hour has been around since 2015.

Since the insurrection, during January 6th is when we saw a real turn.

[crowd yelling] - USA!

- It shifted from peaceful protests to basically hate crimes storming our story hours and death threats.

- [Protestor] You're a faggot, you're a pedophile!

All you guys.

It's a shame what you are doing.

- [Protestor] Pedo!

Pedo, pedo!

- And that's where we are now.

And unfortunately, Drag Story Hour is the center of this like false narrative of like, oh, well queer people are dangerous.

- I oppose indoctrinating innocent children into transgenderism and non binary lifestyles.

- This is not okay.

Pedophiles are out there and they need to get kids into their cult.

- These are very old stereotypes, allegations of pedophilia, grooming and whatnot that first the gay community faced.

Now the trans community, it's a pretty old script.

- The LGBTQ community and drag performers have become part of the targets of extremists in the US.

[people yelling] [sirens wailing] Extremists, they do come in different flavors, right?

Some are straight up White supremacists, some are militantly anti-government or Neo-Nazi.

And they all have their little differences, but what they've done is they have coalesced around different cultural issues.

Drag performers are just a really easy target for them.

- Drag not welcome!

Drag not welcome!

Drag not welcome!

- 20 years ago transvestites were shunned.

They weren't allowed in society.

They weren't allowed to be out here promoting the degenerate behavior as if it's normal, as if it should be acceptable.

- Evaluating this threat requires not only understanding these groups use of paramilitary training and promotion of insurrectionist ideology, but also understanding and responding to the strategies and developing alliances through which they seek to enter mainstream American politics.

- The Democrats are the party of pedophiles and their identity is the most disgusting, evil, horrible things happening in our country.

- This isn't just about an issue that some people may have legitimate concerns about.

Maybe they are worried about their own children and it's not just about that.

It's part of a much bigger effort to really push America to the fringe.

- Standing up against the child sexualization.

We stand in solidarity.

And we say together, no more!

- It's interesting because I see signs like protect the kids.

They don't have in mind the LGBT kids that also exist.

LGBT kids are four times more likely to have suicidal tendencies because their family doesn't accept them.

They're often rejected, thrown out into the streets.

I wonder where they're going.

I'm guessing they're probably going somewhere where they're loved and accepted and not teased.

as a performer with Drag Story Hour, and as an activist, I'm trying to make it so the next generation doesn't have to struggle.

So it's almost laughable when they say protect the kids.

Protect them from me?

I'm trying to help them.

I would say, I'm trying to protect them from you.

- We will not comply.

[crowd chanting] - Today's Senate bill 12, which bans children from seeing sexually explicit performances has passed both of our chambers.

- It is a cycle in which these politicians through legislation like this normalize and embolden this violent extremism.

[crowd yelling] - [Crowd] Shame on you.

Shame on you.

[crowd yelling] [dramatic music] - Some of what we're seeing is going to be challenged and is probably going to fall, but what doesn't go away is this normalization that it is okay and acceptable and you can actually get a majority of votes for laws that are so blatantly discriminatory.

- Nothing less than our democracy is at stake.

When no one is saying anything when the trans community is targeted, when drag shows are targeted, it makes them emboldened to then target the Black community, the Muslim community, the Jewish community, immigrants, refugees, the LGBTQ community writ large.

- I think it's really mean and really biased that some of you have come out here and turned something so innocent into something that just doesn't exist.

It exists in your mind 'cause it's hatred, it's bias.

Put it away, put it away.

[dramatic music] [dramatic music continues] [dramatic music continues] [dramatic music continues]