It’s kind of a silly thing, but the impact can be powerful when you get to engage with kids. I’m going to continue celebrating those days. I don’t have a classroom anymore because I am coaching other teachers who have students with multiple languages in their background, but it gives me access to more buildings, which means there’s more homecoming for me to participate in. Read More: A Weekend With a Memphis Drag Queen as Tennessee Tries to Restrict Her Art How has the ban on public drag performances affected the way you teach? Are you going to keep dressing in costumes? Just any of those ways to celebrate a student’s success are important and I really hope that other teachers will continue to find ways to connect and support their students. I have a kiddo who dressed up as Gandalf because he listened to the Lord of the Rings audiobook just knowing, that counts, and that’s reading, and you’re doing great. She’s a real human and I can go to her with what’s going on. Those little moments can make students think, maybe that teacher is cool. I have also dressed up as rapper Eazy-E for 90s day. I’ve dressed up as a crazy cat lady with stuffed animals all over my outfit. What are some of your favorite costumes to dress up in? But then they would wear this costume, pretend to be this other character, and open up. I had students who would usually be quiet during class conversations because they’re shy. They had never really wanted to engage because of the struggle. It was fun to see them interact with each other in this way given that reading has never been easy for them. We would do a celebration dinner in which we came dressed up as a character from our story and pretend to be that character. The costumes were a way for us to connect with our characters and choose books we were personally interested in instead of ones a teacher picks out. They get to see your humor and the things you care about outside school.īy the time students who struggle with reading and writing make it to high school, it can be really hard. That’s fun to participate in because students see a different side of you. But there’s a big celebration around homecoming where we have different dress-up days. Tell me about why you dress up in costumes when you teach. If dressing up in a costume counts as that, it’s sort of like the Pictionary version of the actual art form-a very gross, crude version of drag, which entails real art, beauty, and wonderfulness. I have never considered myself to be drag queen or king. Zooey Zephyr: My Censure Was an Attack on Democracy The lawsuit alleges that because of the way HB 359 is written, your teaching methods could be considered to be “drag story hour” with you representing a “drag queen” or “drag king.” Had you ever considered yourself in those terms before? Then, I realized: wait a minute-those sorts of things are now going to be illegal. I dress up around homecoming and have reading celebration lessons in my classroom where we dress up as characters from books we read. But this bill in particular would impact how I operate in the classroom and how I interact at school. I was watching the legislative session closely as a queer person, so I was aware of the numerous anti-LGBTQ bills in Montana. Why did you decide to sue the state of Montana over the ban on public drag performances? Anyone found guilty of violating these rules could also be sued within ten years of the event by a minor who attends the performance. Teachers and school staff could face a yearlong suspension and a second offense warrants losing their teaching certificate. The legislation notes that if those in violation of the law are a library, school, teacher, or “entity that receives any form of funding from the state,” or an employee of such an entity, they can be fined $5,000. House Bill 359 went into effect on May 22, and creates restrictions on “sexually oriented performances.” It also targets “drag” story hour, banning those considered to be dressing in drag from reading to children in public schools or libraries. (For example, the lawsuit says the theater worries that the new PG-13 Wes Anderson movie Asteroid City could violate the law because in one scene, actress Scarlett Johansson disrobes and steps into a bathtub.) Other plaintiffs include organizations that host all-ages drag events and an independent theater that receives state funding, which worries that some of its films and live performances could be caught in the law’s broad net. Corcoran sued city and state officials, alleging that the new law was “a breathtakingly ambiguous and overbroad bill” that is an unconstitutional and “draconian” breach of free speech.
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