Drag Bans?

Two weeks ago, Tennessee passed a new state law that limits drag shows. Similar bills are pending in at least fourteen states and more are likely to come. In this talk, Professor Clare Sears will discuss the history behind these laws, connecting them to anti-cross-dressing laws from the nineteenth century, and exploring ways that similar laws might be challenged today.

Clare Sears is an associate professor of Sociology & Sexuality Studies at San Francisco State University. They are author of the book, “Arresting Dress: Cross Dressing, Law, and Fascination in Nineteenth-Century San Francisco” (Duke University Press, 2014).