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RuPaul dismissed the bans as a distraction tactic and encouraged everyone to vote against them.

Since the beginning of the year, multiple senators, governor, and other assorted legislators around the United States, mostly red states, have been pushing for stringent restrictions, as well as outright bans on drag shows and activities. Proponents of these bills have said that banning drag is a matter of protecting minors, but others have countered that this is merely an excuse to infringe upon the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals.

This week, television personality RuPaul, host of RuPaul’s Drag Race and a prominent advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, addressed the new bans in a post on his Instagram.

“Hey, look over there! A classic distraction technique, distracting us away from the real issues that they were voted into office to focus on: jobs, healthcare, keeping our children safe from harm at their own school,” RuPaul begins. “But we know that bullies are incompetent at solving real issues.”

“They look for easy targets so they can give the impression of being effective. They think our love, our light, our laughter and our joy are signs of weakness. But they’re wrong because that is our strength,” he continued, stating, “Drag queens are the Marines of the queer movement.”

"They think our love, our light, our laughter, and our joy are signs of weakness but they're wrong because that is our strength." 🔁: @RuPaul pic.twitter.com/5uDcBI8SQa

— RuPaul's Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) March 8, 2023

“Don’t get it twisted and don’t be distracted. Register to vote so we can get these stunt queens out of office and put some smart people with real solutions into government.”

RuPaul concluded the message by stressing that “a social media post has never been as powerful as a registered vote.”