Library cancels trans speaker after Montana bans drag readings [View all]
Source: Associated Press
Library cancels trans speaker after Montana bans drag readings
By AMY BETH HANSON
June 2, 2023
Montana’s new law banning drag reading events at public libraries has led to the cancellation of a Native American transgender speaker in a southwestern Montana city on Friday.
The Butte-Silver Bow Public Library canceled its “First Friday” speaker, Adria Jawort, at the recommendation of county attorneys, library director Stef Johnson said in a statement on the library’s website.
On Monday, Jawort posted online that she was going to do an LGBTQ and two-spirit history lecture at a library on Friday. “Two-spirit” is a Native American term for people with both male and female spirits.
The speech might be illegal in Montana “as a flamboyantly dressed trans woman,” she posted. On Thursday she said her Tweet was meant to mock the law that bans drag reading events at public schools and libraries. Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed it on May 22 and it took effect immediately.
Under the law, “drag queen” is defined as a performer who adopts a “flamboyant ... feminine persona ...
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/drag-reading-event-ban-montana-speaker-canceled-4b40d8991b2fc1353f1dd2cf72bde62d
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