Local drag performer feels hopeful as court blocks

TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) — A Florida law placing restrictions on live performances has been put on hold. The Protection of Children Act, which some say targets the LGBTQ community, was ruled vague and unconstitutional by a federal judge Friday.

Local drag performers said this is a big win.

Ciall Williams performs as his drag persona Iggy Monroe Moon at the Rose Room.

He said there was a dark cloud of fear lingering around what he loves to do that has been lifted with this court ruling.

“That was very devastating, very heartbreaking,” Williams said. “The fact that we went back in time for a few months and was on edge the whole time.”

Williams said Florida’s new Protection of Children Act has made him afraid to dress in drag in public or in front of his two-year-old son.

Drag is something he said makes him feel his best.

“It makes me feel confident,” Williams said. “It makes me feel bold, it makes me feel beautiful.”

He is now feeling hopeful after a federal judge temporarily blocked the law. The judge ruling the law was unconstitutional and vague.

“This smile is very real,” Williams said with a big grin. “This is how I am feeling this morning.”

The judge wrote that the law limits freedom of speech, citing a comment made by Representative Randy Fine, calling events like drag story times “propaganda”.

Fine writing in a Facebook post that drag queens are adult entertainers who groom children to be a part of the LGBTQ community.

When we spoke with Fine in March on this bill, he told ABC 27 he was inspired to write the bill after a pride parade in his home district exposed children to inappropriate sexual behavior. He said the bill is meant to protect young children from being sexualized.

Pre-licensed children’s therapist Ashley Kappelman says research points to the fact that exposing people to LGBTQ themes will not change their sexuality.

“Exposing someone to ideas of a different norm, such as LGBTQ, you cannot change somebody’s personal identity just by exposing them,” Kappelman said.

Kappelman said giving LGBTQ representation to young people can be beneficial for their mental health.

“It can reduce incidents of mental health issues which is what I see occurring when somebody feels that they belong, that they’re accepted, and that they have support from someone, at least one person in their life,” Kappelman said.

Something that Williams said helped him come into his own as someone who grew up in an unaccepting home.

“It was people within the community that helped me find myself, that helped me understand myself and helped me become who I want to become,” Williams said.

Williams said with the law in place or not, he wants to be there for LGBTQ youth.

“I am only going to do that for the next generation and the generation after that,” Williams said.