What a Drag! Censorship and the Criminalization of Alternative Gender Performance

The rise of censorship laws targeting drag performance and gender expression reflects a broader political and ideological effort to regulate LGBTQIA+ visibility and reinforce heteronormative norms. These laws, often justified under child protection rhetoric and morality-based policymaking, rely on vague legal language and selective enforcement to suppress gender nonconformity while maintaining plausible deniability of discriminatory intent. Despite significant scholarship on LGBTQIA+ rights, policy diffusion, and free speech, little research has examined how contemporary censorship policies construct, justify, and enforce restrictions on drag performance and alternative gender expression. This study addresses that gap by analyzing the language, justification, and enforcement processes and patterns of recent state-level censorship legislation. Using an interdisciplinary theoretical framework that combines queer theory, social construction theory, policy diffusion theory, and legislative policy making models (Punctuated Equilibrium Theory, Multiple Streams Framework, Moral Foundations Theory, and Critical Policy Analysis), this research critically examines how these laws function as tools of ideological governance. The study reveals that conservative policymakers intentionally deploy legal ambiguity, model legislation, and moral panic rhetoric to facilitate the rapid diffusion of censorship policies across multiple jurisdictions. Furthermore, it highlights how these policies disproportionately impact trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming individuals, reinforcing broader systems of social and legal exclusion. By situating contemporary anti-drag legislation within a historical trajectory of morality-based censorship and gender policing, this study provides critical insights for legal scholars, policymakers, and social work practitioners. The findings underscore the urgent need for stronger legal protections, clearer statutory language, and proactive advocacy strategies to combat the continued erosion of LGBTQIA+ rights. As legislative attacks on gender expression escalate, this research serves as both an academic contribution and a call to action for those working to resist censorship, protect free expression, and advocate for the visibility and rights of marginalized communities.