Dem candidate for Utah governor votes against bill banning sexualized drag performances for children

Utah Rep. Brian King (Dist. 23) who is running as a Democrat for Utah governor, as well as other Democrats in the Utah legislature, voted against a bill that criminalizes purposefully exposing children under 14 to sexualized performances at drag shows and in other venues. Specific acts banned in the bill for children include performances that act out simulated masturbation, intercourse, and erotic touching of fake or natural breasts, as well as involving any child in an act containing these actions.   

King, who announced his bid for Utah governor in December, as well as Democratic Utah State Reps. Gay Bennion, Joel Briscoe, Brett Garner, Sarah Hayes, Sandra Hollins, Ashlee Matthews, Angela Romero, and Mark Wheatley voted against the bill, titled "Lewdness Involving a Child Amendments." The law was sponsored by Republican Rep. Collin Jack and was passed in the Utah House last Thursday 59 to 9.  

Three Democrats in the Utah House voted in support of the bill, Reps. Carol Moss, Rosemary Lesser, and Doug Owens.  

The bill expands the definition of offenses of lewdness involving a child to include actions in performances such as drag shows that are sexual in nature, including acted-out masturbation and the "erotic touching of the actor's nude breast, regardless of the actor's sex or how the breast was developed or created."  

During public debate on the bill, Equality Utah (EU), an LGBTQ activism group that has endorsed Rep. King in past elections, had EU Policy Director Marina Lowe speak saying that the bill would be able to allow prosecutors to "target protected speech in venues such as the pride parades that happen across the state."  

The Chairman of the Utah Gay Straight Coalition, Goud Maragani, spoke out in support of the bill as a gay man and someone who has gone to drag shows and many clubs. 

"Drag shows are inherently sexual, they are intended to be subversive. And just as an example, they're currently being used to promote gender dysphoria to children," Maragani added in his testimony.   

On Representative King's campaign page, he states that he is a "father of four girls, step-father to three step-children, [and] happily married." He says on his page that he has served as a bishop in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest religious sect in Utah. The Church has strict standards related to sexual misconduct and is "one of the few denominations that imposes formal ecclesiastical discipline on mere members (as opposed to official clergy) for sexually abusive conduct."  

Earlier in the month, King opposed the heavily debated Utah transgender bathroom bill that would prohibit biological males from entering women's bathrooms in public places. The bill also made provisions to make unisex bathrooms available for people who are transgender in public venues.  

At the time, he said that people in the state did not need to change the law surrounding public bathrooms because Utah code has laws against "things like voyeurism,... lewdness, public indecency, [and] sexual assault."  

"Those are already crimes, they're on the books. There's no need to pass separate laws to address those things."   

The lewdness involving a child bill amends the previous law which did not have such measures related to the actions of lewd and sexualized drag shows as well as similar performances. It was spurred after the HBO series, "We're Here," featured a drag show in the small town of St. George in Southern Utah in June 2022, according to Alexis Ence, a resident of the town.  

Ence told The Post Millennial that after the large drag show was pushed in the town, a large number of people around Utah started sending evidence of lewd and sexualized performances to Representative Jack to forward the efforts of the bill.  

She said that another show was at a coffee shop just down the street where she lived where there was an incident of an individual receiving a lap dance from a drag queen in the presence of a child who appeared no more than 5 years of age.  



In a statement to The Post Millennial, Ence said, "For our community, this all began with the show 'We’re Here' coming to St. George. If you watch the HBO show, you will see scantily-clad drag queens in a children’s splash pad, perhaps in an attempt to provoke locals." 

"Others from all over the state have joined our efforts in reporting to Representative Jack about the happenings in their communities The language for prohibited behaviors in HB 424 originated from content performed in many drag shows or parades around Utah." 

"No adult has the right to be lewd in front of a child; their rights end where our children’s rights begin," she added. "I invite voters to read the bill and ask themselves why Representative King would like to see these behaviors continue in front of children. This wasn’t a party-line vote. Three Democrats voted in favor of HB 424."