Florida governor Ron DeSantis launched his “War on Drag” by enforcing a law from 1947 – which stated that men impersonating women is too indecent for children.  So he ruled that drag queens fell under “adult entertainment”, and if a minor were there, you could be fined…or worse.  People claim this started as a way to stop drag queens from reading stories to kids in libraries – and let that sink in.  It had unintended consequences.  Stage musicals like Hairspray, La Cage, and most of Shakespeare’s plays feature men dressed as women – and they could be shut down.  Drag queens in gay pride parades in public could be arrested.  Then the Orlando franchise of Hamburger Mary’s restaurant filed a suit against the governor and the State of Florida for infringing on their First Amendment rights.  And they WON!  U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell ruled, “This statute is specifically designed to suppress the speech of drag queen performers.”  It doesn’t overturn the law, but it does make it unenforceable.

Around the same time, the phenomenal Jinkx Monsoon made Broadway history by playing Mama Morton in Chicago.  Jinkx was sure to let people know she didn’t do it alone.  “I’m following in the footsteps of my sister Peppermint, who broke ground as the first Ru girl, drag queen, trans woman to perform on Broadway in Head Over Heels.  And now I get to take the torch and do my own thing with it.”  Speaking of torches, flaming George Santos made history by being elected to the House of Representatives and being thrown out within the same calendar year.  Perhaps he’ll go back to doing drag…anywhere other than Florida, naturally.