RuPaul's Drag Race World Tour faces controversy in Oklahoma as state tries to ban drag

TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) — As tickets for RuPaul’s Drag Race Werq The World Tour 2023 went on sale last Friday, the event began raising some eyebrows in the Sooner State.

The timing of the ticket sales and show coincide when when drag shows face challenges from the Oklahoma legislature.

At least two bills are working their way through that raise a lot of questions with people about if this show would even be legal.

In this case, RuPaul's Drag Race in Oklahoma will happen before House Bill 2186 and Senate Bill 503, which aim to ban drag shows, could take effect in early November.

The authors and proponents of the bills say it's about protecting underage children from attending a drag show being exposed to lewd behavior therein.

Organizations such as the Dennis R. Neill Oklahoma Equality Center say that if these bills do pass and get the governor's signature, they raise questions about the cost of using thousands of taxpayer dollars to push bans on these shows.

Interim Executive Director of Oklahomans for Equality Dorothy Ballard expressed concern over the rights and freedom of individuals from the LGBTQ+ community that could be impacted by the bills.

"What exactly is the line? When do we start getting into lewd what exactly is not representing the gender," she told KTUL in an interview. "Do clothes suddenly have a gender? Now, how do we define that? What are my rights both on a federal and state level? What are my rights within the county and municipality where I live? Is it a violation of other cultural values? Is it a violation of religious beliefs or religious freedoms?"

"How, how do we begin to even climb that mountain," she continued to ask. "It's a ridiculous amount of stuff based around some very vague language that is not vague and its intention, which is specifically to target the LGBTQ-plus community."