LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A bill introduced in the Kentucky Senate would place drag shows and bookstores in the same category as strip clubs.
The bill would restrict where drag shows can be performed and who will be allowed to attend, restricting it to only “mentally competent” adults.
Similar bills have been filed in seven other states across the U.S.
Freshman State Senator Lindsey Tichenor from Oldham County is an author of the bill. She said she had one goal: "to keep children from being exposed to adult content."
The bill targets "Adult-oriented" businesses. Everything from Adult bookstores or video stores, massage parlors, escort agencies - and "establishments that host drag performances."
Those businesses would not be able to operate within a thousand feet of a dozen different places including parks, schools and even walking trails.
"Well, we don't want kids exposed to it casually or accidentally," Tichenor said. "If someone just decides to go to a luncheon with their family and there is a drag show going on, those parents may not want their kids to be exposed to that."
If this bill is passed it would shut down drag shows and brunches across Louisville, including at Le Moo which would then be too close to Cherokee Park.
"It seems a bit nonsense to me," Kevin Grangier, Le Moo owner and Bell Noble Entertainment Group CEO, said.
"I think there are a lot of things the Commonwealth can be doing to help children that don't include shuddering drag brunches," Grangier said.
He noted a five-year-old is still legally able to sit at a bar in Kentucky.
This bill is part of a slew of new legislation going through the house and the senate that the Fairness Campaign has deemed "a slate of hate."
After informing Tichenor that advocates have labeled this and other bills she's filed as homophobic, transphobic and Anti-LGBTQ+, WHAS11 News asked the Senator how she responds to these claims.
"I just don't want these things exposed to children," she said.
Aside from drag shows, the bill would apply the same restrictions to any bookstore or library with books that describe sexual conduct or nudity.
Noting that would apply to most bookstores, WHAS11 asked the senator if she believes what she's written is feasible.
"Is it feasible? I don't know, but I think it's something we need to definitely move towards," she said.
Tichenor introduced the bill on Friday and it's currently in the Veterans, Military Affairs, & Public Protection committee.
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