Akron City Council members unanimously voted on June 29 to oppose Ohio House Bill 249 and affirm the city’s commitment to the “dignity, safety and equal treatment of its LGBTQ+ residents.”
Titled the Indecent Exposure Modernization Act, the bill creates a felony offense of “unlawful adult cabaret performance,” according to a press release posted by State Rep. Josh Williams from Sylvania Township in the Toledo area. It would prohibit a person from “recklessly engaging” in an adult cabaret performance in a location other than an adult cabaret.
Public performers (often called drag queens) who exhibit a gender identity different from their biological sex would be classified as adult cabaret performers, and their performance would be barred from locations where minors may be present.
It passed the House in March and currently sits in a Senate committee.
Opponents of the bill say it would ban drag performances in public spaces.
“This piece of legislation would be a step backwards for our community in a couple ways,” said Akron Mayor Shammas Malik, who sponsored the resolution with Council Member Fran Wilson.
“The first is that it’s specifically targeting folks in our LGBTQ+ community. When there are drag performances that are part of Akron Pride or other events, these are things happening in our community in ways that are uplifting and positive and not in ways that are divisive, and that’s what this piece does by making conduct illegal that shouldn’t be.”
The resolution is also poorly written, Malik said. “It’s very vague as to what would be prohibited conduct, so it puts you down a road in which bigotry and personal bias can infect who is permitted to do what in our society.”
He said rejecting the bill sends a message to Columbus that Akron is pushing back against hate in the community.
Akron has a history of drag performances
Akron council’s resolution states that by singling out transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals for heightened scrutiny and regulation, the bill “sends a harmful message that some Ohioans are less welcome, less valued and less deserving of equal treatment under the law.”
Akron’s strength “comes from its diversity and from the belief that every resident deserves the freedom to live openly, authentically and without fear of discrimination,” the resolution states.
Akron has a history of drag performers dating back to the late 1800s, Wilson said.
“We’ve always had a rich performance history of people gender bending and putting on different types of outfits, portraying different types of characters and telling stories about identity and love and life, which is what drag is about,” they said. “These types of restrictions are pretty abhorrent and also raise a lot of constitutional questions about what we can and can’t do in public.”
Wilson said they sponsored the resolution with the mayor because it’s “an important aspect of advocacy that our city needs to speak up about.”
City Council voted as a “council of the whole,” 13-0, to pass the resolution.
What’s next for Ohio House Bill 249?
The bill passed the Ohio House on March 25 with a vote of 63-32. Area state representatives Veronica Sims (District 33) and Derrick Hall (District 34) voted against it.
The resolution will be sent to Gov. Mike DeWine, Ohio Senate President Rob McColley (R-District 1), members of the Ohio Senate Judiciary Committee, the Summit County legislative delegation and other state officials.
It will also be forwarded to the nonprofit Equality Ohio and the city council clerks in Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo, Dayton, Parma, Canton, Lorain and Hamilton.
