Ohio House passes anti-drag queen bill — Dem leader claims ‘it runs up against these constitutional questions’

The Ohio House passed a bill on Wednesday that would criminalize drag shows that would be considered obscene or harmful to children, which would result in the drag queens being forced to perform only in bars and nightclubs.

House Bill 249, which is now heading to the Ohio Senate for consideration, would also change the definition of public indecency, with only breastfeeding women being exempt from being prosecuted under the law.

The Columbus Dispatch reported that only one Republican lawmaker, state Rep. Jamie Callender, R-Concord, opposed the bill.

Proponents of the bill, including the bill’s sponsors, state Reps. Angie King, R-Celina, and Josh Williams, R-Sylvania Twp., said that the bill doesn’t completely ban drag queens and will instead protect kids from explicit content that is already considered a crime in Ohio, according to the Ohio Laws and Administrative Rules.

“This is about shielding the next generation from premature sexualization, from the erosion of their innocence,” King said, according to The Dispatch.

HB 249 defines performances as obscene if they appeal to sexual interests or “arouse lust.” A legislative analysis also said that the bill would also ban public shows that are considered inappropriate for children or don’t provide them with “serious literary, artistic, political and scientific value.”

“The bill does not say drag queen performances are inherently obscene. I know other states have taken that approach; this bill does not do that,” Williams said in a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee, according to Fox 8. “The only thing that this bans is performers, including drag, that engage in obscene conduct.”

Among the lawmakers who supported the bill was state Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, the bill’s co-sponsor, who wanted to “update Ohio’s indecent exposure laws.”

“Naked men shouldn’t be able to engage in obscene performances in front of children. As I said in my floor remarks, the radical Left keeps pushing the boundaries, but enough is enough,” he wrote on X.

I co-sponsored HB249 to update Ohio’s indecent exposure laws. Naked men shouldn’t be able to engage in obscene performances in front of children. As I said in my floor remarks, the radical Left keeps pushing the boundaries, but enough is enough. pic.twitter.com/hSf9c6djQS

— Brian Stewart (@BrianStewartOH) March 26, 2026

The legislation was heavily criticized by pro-LGBTQ advocates and drag performers, according to The Dispatch. One of the drag performers who criticized the bill was Danny Thomas, a member of the Dayton-based Rubi Girls, who raises money for charities that support LGBTQ people.

Thomas and other critics of the bill said that it is an attack on Ohioans who identify themselves as “transgender.”

“There are millions of things we can do to help children, and banning drag isn’t one of them,” Thomas said.

Dwayne Steward, CEO and executive director of Equality Ohio, also opposed the bill, saying that “it really would allow for any jurisdiction in the state to decide that drag or a trans person expressing themselves in public is illegal.”

House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn, D-Cincinnati, supported the drag performers and left-wing activists, saying the bill would likely face legal challenges if it ever became law, according to Fox 8.

“It’s a little bit Big Brother-y to tell parents and neighbors and community leaders exactly what should or shouldn’t be allowed in their communities,” he said. “That’s where it runs up against these constitutional questions because it’s the government trying to make those choices for parents and for families, and that is not the role the government should play.”

King previously attempted to pass a similar bill, House Bill 245, but it never passed the state House.