During his Emmy Award acceptance speech Monday night in Los Angeles, famous drag queen RuPaul Charles gave a passionate defense of drag queen story hours.
RuPaul was on stage at the 75th annual show to receive his record eighth straight win in the Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program category, according to The Hill.
“Thank you so much, you lovely lovely people. We are so honored to have this award,” RuPaul said. (RELATED: Kelsea Ballerini Invited Drag Queens To The Country Music Awards Stage)
“If someone is trying to restrict your access to power, they are trying to scare you.”
Can we get an amen? Wise words from @RuPaul and @RuPaulsDragRace on the importance of protecting our power as LGBTQ+ people in the face of anti-drag attacks. #Emmys pic.twitter.com/374Ppl5p4t
— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) January 16, 2024
“You guys are just pure lovely to honor our show and recognize all these queens,” RuPaul told the crowd. “We have released into the wild hundreds of drag queens, and they’re beautiful. On behalf of all of them, we thank you.”
Hoisting the Emmy up in the air, RuPaul added, “And listen. If a drag queen wants to read you a story at a library, listen to her, because knowledge is power, and if someone tries to restrict your access to power, they are trying to scare you, so listen to a drag queen.”
A handful of states have introduced legislation that would ban drag performances on public property or where they could be viewed by minors, the Pedestrian reported. Tennessee was the first state to ban drag shows outright in 2023, the outlet reported.
Despite the state legislation, some consider the bans discriminatory and unconstitutional.
The creation of anti-drag laws is “a malicious attempt to remove LGBTQ people from public life,” according to the American Civil Liberties Union.