Texas GOP Lawmaker Behind Anti-Drag Bill Says He Wore Drag Only as a Dare
Twitter on Wednesday after footage shared by another Twitter user appeared to show him wearing drag.Schatzline, a first-term state representative and a former pastor, has sponsored a bill that would amend the state's Business and Commerce code to define a venue that hosts a drag performance and "authorizes on-premises consumption of alcoholic beverages" as a "sexually oriented business." Such a venue would not be permitted to allow those under 18 to enter.In the video posted by Twitter user Michelle, whose handle is @LivingBlueTX, on February 27, Schatzline can be seen wearing a black sequined dress.
He is running and dancing in a park with three other individuals."A response to media posting a class project from my teenage years.
Sometimes you just gotta laugh," the lawmaker tweeted on Wednesday, adding: "Media wants to distract us from adults who act in sexually suggestive ways in front of kids.
We're not backing down against those that want to rob a child's innocence!"In an accompanying video, Schatzline took aim at "leftwing news media," which he said "twist stories to be something that they're not.""Look, the leftwing is attacking me because of some class project I did as a teenager where my buddies dared me to wear a dress," Schatzline said."But we're not gonna let that distract us from the real message of what we're trying to get done right here in the Texas legislature, and that is ban sexually explicit drag shows and preserve the innocence of the next generation in Texas," Schatzline added.In the original video showing Schatzline wearing a dress, he is accompanied by three other people who are also in costume, though not in drag.
