Drag show-inspired ban on ‘lewd’ events at state-owned facilities stalls

HB-1116 would have given Board of Regents broad authority to ban minors from attending any campus events

PIERRE — A proposal aimed at banning drag shows on public college campuses and shielding minors from the events has fallen in the South Dakota Legislature.

The Senate Education Committee on Tuesday morning narrowly defeated House Bill 1116, which sought to prohibit the use of state resources for events with “lewd or lascivious” content. The 4-3 vote came after nearly an hour of testimony, debate and deliberation about the role of government in the arts, existing child exposure laws on the books and what took place at a drag show last fall on the campus of South Dakota State University.

“It expands state bureaucracy into content moderation. And I don’t know if that’s our place in government,” Sen. Tim Reed said of HB-1116.

The Republican hails from Brookings, the location of a student-hosted drag show on Nov. 16 that was advertised on the university website as a “kid friendly” event.

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