Another Anti-Drag Lawmaker Caught in Drag Himself

A Texas state congressman who authored a bill restricting drag performances appears to have done drag himself.

The second legislator in a week to be caught for this hypocrisy, first-term Texas state Rep. Nate Schatzline has admitted it was him in videos that surfaced on TikTok and Twitter showing a man in a dress performing skits to the song “Sexy Lady” by Javi Mula.

Although Schatzline’s bill argues the mere existence of drag is sexual, his own dalliance with playing dress up was just “a joke,” he said.

“Y’all really going crazy over me wearing a dress as a joke back in school for a theatre project?” he replied to a tweet sharing the video. “Yah, that’s not a sexually explicit drag show… lol y’all will twist ANYTHING.”

However, the bill authored by Schatzline, HB1266, doesn’t just create hurdles for “sexually explicit” drag shows.

Rather, it seeks to denote any kind of business that allows “on-premises consumption of alcoholic beverages” and performances by a person wearing any clothing or makeup not stereotypical to their born sex as “sexually oriented businesses.”

These businesses wouldn’t be allowed to serve or host minors, regardless if they’re a nightclub, restaurant or bar.

In other words, if John Travolta performed his gender-flipped Hairspray role in a Texas theater that serves alcohol, that theater would need to be designated a “sexually oriented business” and bar minors. Or, for example, if a transgender woman wore makeup and sang karaoke at a restaurant, that eatery couldn’t allow children.

Presumably, the law could reasonably be interpreted to say that a transgender waiter singing “Happy Birthday” to a patron would classify a restaurant as a “sexually oriented business.” It isn’t entirely clear what punishment establishments would face if they violate the law, or how it would be enforced.

Schatzline is the latest Republican caught in the disconnect between their own frivolous drag attempts and their movement to villainize the LGBTQ community as sexual groomers.

Earlier this week, a photo emerged of drag-banning Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee dressed as a woman in high school, something his office waved off as a “lighthearted” school tradition. And earlier this year, embattled liar Rep. George Santos was exposed for his own drag past, which he eventually admitted he “had fun” doing.

While these Republican lawmakers were all too comfortable characterizing their drag as harmless, Schaltzine’s bill comes as a slew of anti-LGBTQ laws have been introduced in many states, with right-wing lawmakers promoting baseless and harmful stereotypes that LGBTQ people are “groomers.”

Several drag shows and events have been bombarded by hate groups, while governors like Ron DeSantis have passed discriminatory laws, including Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay.”