Over Drag Show Permit, North Brookfield Faces 'Potential Litigation' Deadline

NORTH BROOKFIELD, MA — Officials in North Brookfield have until Wednesday to respond to an ACLU of Massachusetts request to allow a drag performance during an upcoming gay pride event — or face a potential lawsuit.

The ACLU alerted the town in a letter on April 18 about "potential litigation" after the town select board voted to block a drag show that was planned as part of the June “Small Town Pride” event sponsored by the Rural Justice Network.

The select board in March approved a permit for the event, including a drag performance. The board re-voted on the permit on April 11, giving the OK to the pride event minus the drag show, according to the ACLU. Board of Selectmen Chair Jason Patraitis and Vice Chair John Tripp voted to remove the drag show while member Elizabeth Brooke Canada did not.

Patraitis said the drag show would need to secure an adult entertainment permit since, in his view, it would include "sexual innuendo."

The ACLU has said the vote is an attempt to censor performers who are expressing a different view of gender — a violation of both the state and U.S. constitutions. The letter also says the vote to prohibit a drag show is too vague, wondering whether the selectmen are more broadly banning people from attending the event because of how they express their gender identity.

"This is censorship based on the content of the proposed speech and the viewpoint it expresses, including that gender identity may be fluid and individuals should be treated equally and accepted regardless of how they choose to express their identity," the letter said.

The letter gave North Brookfield until Wednesday to respond. Patraitis told GBH he doesn't plan on revisiting the vote to stop the drag show, but said the town attorney is reviewing the letter.

Politicians across the U.S. have targeted drag shows in recent years, with lawmakers in states from Montana to North Carolina attempting to ban the performances. A drag ban enacted in Tennessee was halted this month by a federal judge who called it "vague and overly-broad." Massachusetts has a raft of laws that prohibit discrimination based on gender identity

In Massachusetts, drag queen story events have been disrupted by neo-Nazis, and U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern was criticized by his 2022 Republican opponent for attending a storytime event at a Worcester brewery.