Protesters decry anti-LBTQ bills during West Hollywood 'Drag March'
WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. - West Hollywood was full of Pride Sunday as more than 1,000 people gathered to protested against Anti-LGBTQ+ legislation across the country.
The Los Angeles LGBT Center hosted its Drag March down Santa Monica Boulevard, to bring attention to what the group called "a tidal wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation" being introduced in legislatures around the U.S. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, more than 450 such bills have been introduced in the U.S. in 2023 as of April 9, including one in California. That's more than twice as many as the previous year.
Assembly Bill 1314, introduced in February, would require parents be notified if a school employee notices a student "identifying at school as a gender that does not align with the child’s sex on their birth certificate" or other official documents.
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Other bills mentioned in the ACLU report include a bill which would criminalize drag performances in Tennessee, and a Senate bill in Missouri called the "Missouri Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act," which would ban gender-affirming surgeries on minors.
The protesters in West Hollywood Sunday marched to chants of "When gay rights are under attack what do we do? Stand up, fight back. When trans rights are under attack, stand up, fight back."
West Hollywood Mayor Sepi Shyne was one of the speakers at Sunday's demonstration, saying that "an attack across this country on drag symbolizes another attack against all of us."
For drag performer Mercury Mynx, drag is just a way for them to express themself.
"I like putting on clothes that are fun and some people just like being themselves," Mynx said. "I don't know if anyone out their likes hiding in a closet or likes living by someone else's rules, but to any of those people I would say, 'That's your business, and this is our business, and we can both mind our own businesses.'"
While some in drag highlighted the fun of Sunday's demonstration, they made it a point to show that it was more than that, but rather a call to stand up for what they believe in.