A small town in Central Massachusetts is blocking a drag show from taking place as part of an LGBTQ Pride celebration in June after initially approving it. Now, the chair of that Select Board is doubling down on the decision, citing the town's probition on “adult entertainment,” despite civil rights violation concerns from the ACLU of Massachusetts.
The North Brookfield Select Board had initially voted to grant permits for the drag show to take place on the Town Common in a March 28 meeting, but then rescinded the permits for the “Small Town Pride” event at its April 11 meeting. The three-member board then voted to allow the Pride events again but with the exclusion of the drag show in a 2-1 vote.
Board chair Jason Petraitis and vice chairman John Tripp voted in favor, while member Elizabeth Brooke Canada dissented.
“The majority of these shows do include sexual innuendo and behavior that exaggerates all aspects of the individual’s sexuality. To wit, drag shows should be deemed adult entertainment,” Petraitis claimed. He said the town has a prohibition on “adult entertainment” in the downtown district except by special permit.
“It’s still kind of a shock and it's still kind of confusing as to understanding their reasoning behind it, but we're just hoping that they will change their mind,” said Tashena Marie, a board member for host organization Rural Justice Network. She said the organization has held many family-friendly drag performances.
Asked if Rural Justice Network would apply for the so-called special permit, Marie said drag is not adult entertainment. “I don’t see the need to even think about it or worry about applying for that [permit].”
The ACLU of Massachusetts and Rural Justice Network contended in an April 18 letter to the board that the decision is a violation of free speech law in the U.S. and Massachusetts Constitutions, and the equal protection guarantees in those documents. In the letter, attorney Ruth Bourquin said that cutting out the drag show is a “plainly unconstitutional content-based and indeed viewpoint-based restriction on free expression,” and discrimination based on sex.
“There is no compelling government interest in preventing people dressed in clothes typically associated with a gender other than the one assigned to them at birth from appearing in a traditional public forum, including a public forum where children will be,” she wrote.
The ACLU of Massachusetts said it is urging the board to restore the prior permit approval on or before April 26 in order to “avoid potential litigation over this issue.”
The board confirmed it has received the letter. In an interview with GBH News, Petraitis said he “doesn’t necessarily agree” with the concerns about constitutionality of the town's decision.
Asked if the town plans to rescind its rescission, Petraitis said “not at this time.” He said he’s waiting to hear back from the town’s counsel.
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Asked to describe what about drag shows makes it adult entertainment Petraitis said, “Well, it’s the dress and the dancing in that setting, and it’s flamboyant and exaggerates and flaunts the human sexuality, and it doesn’t belong in the public sphere where people that don’t want to see it or children should have access to.”
He said drag shows can still occur under special permit in an “industrial zoning in a business” and contended that the drag show was the “only part” of the Pride events to not get a permit.
Tripp and Brooke Canada couldn’t be reached for comment.
Tripp had said in March that he’d never been to a drag show, and then at the April 11 meeting said that he couldn’t understand how it could be family-friendly.
“If you want to see me in a Speedo go down to the playground, that’s adult entertainment. I’m not gonna do it, I’m just saying,” he said.
Canada replied that Tripp's comments were an opinion, and that none of the drag shows she has attended included someone wearing a Speedo. She also questioned what types of activities fall under the town's definition of "adult entertainment."
“I don’t think it’s adult entertainment; it’s freedom of expression,” Canada said. “I’ve been to these events. I’ve never seen anything that’s been unsavory to anybody, and I trust that our police force would enforce anything that’s unlawful or adult in nature."
“I'm not understanding why they think this particular event is bad or negative, except for the gender nonconforming part of it, which doesn't make it adult entertainment,” said Marie in an interview.
Petraitis said he had reversed his decision because “after extensive research” he got information that would “prohibit the drag portion of the show.” That was watching videos from a community drag show in West Brookfield that took place in 2021, also held by Rural Justice Network. The group had shared the video information with the board in March and said they’d be happy to “work with” the council on the event.
“While they were fully clothed, the gestures and some of the comments and things were not something that should be out on the common where kids are gonna be playing. I feel that it’s not appropriate,” said Petraitis.
The board’s denial comes at a time when drag performances are being restricted nationwide.
In March, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a law that restricts drag shows in public spaces. In Florida this week, legislators sent a bill to the governor's desk that would penalize local governments or businesses for hosting drag performances where children could be present. And in Texas, politicians are pushing multiple bills that would limit drag performance.
Multiple drag events at libraries in Massachusetts have been disrupted by protesters, including some affiliated with neo-Nazi groups like NSC-131.
A library event next month showcasing drag makeup for teens in Danvers will feature Miz. Diamond Wigfall, a queen who performs often in Salem. The Facebook post has hundreds of comments debating whether the event should happen, with some supporting it, and others decrying it. Some comments are homophobic slurs or push the narrative that LGBTQ people are "grooming" children.
“They just wanted to incorporate that for some youth programing because like, people love makeup,” said Diamond Wigfall. She said this is the third time she has an event planned and people have spoken against it.
“I’m not doing anything. I’m just teaching them to blend eyeshadow,” she said. Diamond Wigfall said that she worries about their own safety with the comments floating around out there, saying it “does get scarier by the day,” and said it’s just important for kids to be exposed to different kinds of people.
“People don't even really just like understand what drag is, because there's just this narrative that queer people and drag is grooming children and crazy things like that. ... Drag is about love, and drag is about accepting yourself,” she said.
The deadline the ACLU of Massachusetts highlighted for action by the North Brookfield board is next week.
“I really hope that everyone remembers that we're all neighbors here — there's no reason for hate. And we all just want we all just really want to create an event that's positive and create a community and a safe place for, you know, the queer community to exist,” said Marie.
