MA Select Board Won't Allow 'Vulgar' Drag Show At Gay Pride Event: ACLU

NORTH BROOKFIELD, MA — The North Brookfield Board of Selectmen has attracted the attention of the ACLU of Massachusetts after the members voted to deny permission for a drag performance during a gay pride event set for June.

The select board in March approved a permit for the Small Town Pride event, including a drag performance. The board re-voted on the issued on April 11, giving the OK to the gay pride event minus the drag show, according to the ACLU.

The ACLU sent a letter to the town asking it to reverse the decision to pull the drag performance from Small Town Pride, which is set for June 24.

Board of Selectmen Chair Jason Petraitis said during a discussion about the letter Tuesday at a selectman meeting that drag performances are "vulgar and rude," according to the ACLU.

"We call on North Brookfield and all communities in Massachusetts to recognize that discrimination against those who choose to express themselves through drag is inconsistent with our state and federal constitutions and basic democratic principles," senior ACLU managing attorney Ruth Bourquin said in a news release.

Drag performances are an integral part of LGBTQ+ culture, but have recently come under fire by Republicans. Lawmakers in states from Montana to North Carolina are considering drag bans, while a drag ban that became law in Tennessee was halted this month by a federal judge who called it "vague and overly-broad."

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.

Small Town Pride has held events in 2021 — the inaugural year — and 2022 with support from the Rural Justice Network and Northern Worcester County Pride.