Ethan Garrepy began doing drag with a $10 Target face paint palette, an old Halloween wig and a lot of time on their hands during the COVID-19 quarantine. Three years later, the 19-year-old UF musical theater sophomore is one of many artists and performers who make up Gainesville’s flourishing drag scene. 

On Nov. 16, the United States Supreme Court refused the state of Florida’s request to re-enact a law punishing businesses for allowing children into drag shows. Artists like Garrepy are taking the opportunity to celebrate the rare legal victory, which follows a flurry of Florida anti-LGBTQ laws passed over recent legislative terms.

Under the Protection of Children Act, filed in the Florida Senate March 2 and signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis May 17, the state could fine, suspend or revoke the license from any business that admits a child to an “adult live performance.” 

Although the bill does not mention drag shows explicitly, its definition of an adult live performance as including “the lewd exposure of prosthetic or imitation genitals or breasts” has levied criticism for targeting drag performance.

The bill’s House sponsor, Rep. Randy Fine, R-33, announced the bill would “protect our children by ending the gateway propaganda to this evil — ‘Drag Queen Story Time’” in a Facebook post in March.

Florida restaurant successfully sues state

Hamburger Mary’s, an Orlando restaurant that has hosted family-friendly drag events since 2008, filed a suit against the state of Florida, DeSantis and Secretary of State Melanie Griffin over the law one week after it went into effect. The law is unconstitutional under the First Amendment and portrays drag as a public nuisance rather than an age-old art form, the restaurant claimed.

U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell sided with Hamburger Mary’s June 26 in a ruling that blocked Griffin from enforcing the act. 

Florida already has obscenity laws giving it the power to protect children from indecent shows, making the Protection of Children Act unnecessary as well as expression-stifling, Presnell wrote. Florida appealed the District Court’s judgment to the Eleventh Circuit, where it remains pending.

The state of Florida also appealed to the Supreme Court to keep the law on the books during the appeal process. The Supreme Court denied this request in a brief ruling that emphasized its decision had nothing to do with whether the law itself was unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court voted 6-3 against the state, with dissenting opinions from Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch.

Gainesville drag artists celebrate victory with caution

For Garrepy, the ability to attend and perform drag shows isn’t just a freedom of speech — it’s a freedom of protest. To be out, proud and performing in the U.S. has long been considered an act of rebellion by those in the queer community, they said. 

Aside from showing off their own drag looks on social media, Garrepy often attends shows at Gainesville’s pre-eminent queer nightclub, The University Club. Gainesville’s vibrant queer nightlife, including UC performances and even weekly drag shows at the new Libby’s Grog and Grill, makes it a uniquely safe environment for queer artists, said Garrepy, an Orlando native. 

“I was told a lot of things coming here [for college] like, ‘Oh, Gainesville is completely empty, Gainesville doesn’t have anything going on,’” they said. “The people that were telling me that were like, straight jocks … but I’ve been able to find an awesome queer community here.”

Garrepy feels cautiously optimistic following the Supreme Court ruling, they said. But people are stubborn about the issue on both sides, and it’s hard to know what will happen next, they added.

“Republican politicians are completely wanting to shut out drag as an art form, not only just in Florida but across the U.S.,” they said. “And queer people, queer activists are fighting every day to make sure that we have a spot at the table.”

Christina Guiriba, the 37-year-old founder of the first-ever sleepaway summer camp for transgender and nonbinary kids, has seen the worrying effect of recent legislation on LGBTQ+ youth, she said.

“I absolutely hate that they’re having to hear that they shouldn’t exist,” she said.

Guiriba lives in Jacksonville but performs every Thursday at the UC under her drag stage persona Faith Taylor. She also worked as a cast member at Hamburger Mary’s for 10 years and remembers seeing many young people at her shows, she said.

“I know the joy that it brings them to see just another LGBTQ person that identifies on some level with who they are,” she said. “They get so cheery and so excited and bright when they come to the shows, and I hate that they’re robbed of that.”

As a transgender woman, beginning to perform in drag as Faith was how Guiriba realized part of her was missing as a young person, she said. The law could prevent young people from recognizing drag as a potential creative outlet like she did, she said. 

Guiriba is glad Florida judges are seeing the law as the violation of rights that it is and views any victory — temporary or not — as a step in the right direction, she said. She’s hopeful courts will continue to see the law’s defects, she said.

Legal experts doubtful about the law’s future

Any law targeting a specific type of speech the government dislikes is subject to the highest level of constitutional scrutiny, said Lyrissa Lidsky, UF Raymond & Miriam Ehrlich chair in U.S. constitutional law.

“Just from my own perspective as a First Amendment lawyer, this law is pretty clearly unconstitutional,” Lidsky said.

By driving certain content out of the marketplace of ideas, the law could scare businesses from performing drag at all for fear of criminal liability or — in the case of restaurants — losing their liquor licenses, she said.

The definition of the banned “adult live performance” is vague, so businesses won’t know whether or not their performances violate the rules. But if the government tries targeting certain ideologies more explicitly, First Amendment challenges will pop up in retaliation, Lidsky said.

“One of the best arguments about these laws came from Dolly Parton,” Lidsky said. “Her argument was, under a lot of these drag ban laws, her performance would be banned.”

The preliminary injunction against the law could send it back up the appeals ladder, during which more evidence could come out at trial and more appeals could occur, she said. But the more reasonable step for Florida would be to go back to the drawing board rather than litigating a poorly drafted law, she said.

The law is still in Florida’s Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The state of Florida filed its brief Nov. 24 and its appendix Dec. 1. The appeal is still awaiting its final verdict. 

Contact Zoey Thomas at zthomas@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @zoeythomas39.

Conversation with Elgin Smith

“For me, I’m extremely excited about having this show,” said Smith. “So, coming to the MCA, it’s been something that has been on our minds about trying to make happen if we could. So, it’s so great that it’s finally here now. So, I’m super excited about that.”

Smith, a St. Louis native, is the son of an artist who started his journey with comic illustration at the age of five, when he drew his first five-page comic titled The Big Ninjas. Smith would continue this artistic passion at age 13, when he designed a mural by himself and created a comic book titled Electro Kid. This comic was created collaboratively with a peer who previously fought Smith; the two eventually became friends.

“After that [the fight], I realized that me and that dude both like to draw,” Smith recalled. “And I was like, ‘Your drawing is kind of dope.’ And he said, ‘Yours is too.’”

“A lot of Black superheroes actually have electrical powers,” Smith added. “I think maybe Black people, especially Black youth, have an affinity with electricity. Because it’s one of the few things that we’re heavily into, like having powerlines through your cheeks when you throw your sneakers on. Maybe there’s a correlation between that, I don’t know.”

Later, Smith’s mother would enroll him in an entrepreneurship program. During this time, he would attend family reunions and drew caricatures of family members. When he reached grammar school, he encountered a gentleman who would launch his passion to a new level.

“I went to start selling my posters and stuff, I was coloring everything,” he said. “From there, there was a guy who bought my art; I wish I can remember his name. There was a dude who came up and he was like, ‘Brother, can I show your art in my talk today?’, and I was like, ‘Sure!’ I was still in middle school. He held up my art, I remember he bought the female equivalent to the Electro Kid which was Electro Girl. And he was like, ‘This is what I was talking about. This young man is selling this, and we need to invest into young people like this.’ And that changed my life.”

Despite being a successful young artist, Smith dealt with a tumultuous period of ruthless bullying by classmates. He would use this pain as a catalyst for creative projects, as well as an outlet, as Smith got older.

“It was bad,” he recounted. “It would get to the point where I was getting stabbed with pencils and all of that kind of stuff. I actually made a comic book after that based on that experience called The Shmo, where that dude had the power to change to any superhero as long as he had like a comic book of that person on him, and he would get those powers. I did it actually when I was in college. There was a scene where The Shmo was getting beat up and bullied by everybody. He’s just taking focus on drawing comics and stuff like that. And it was kind of like a real-life experience.”

Smith then attended Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, and found mentorship in his former teacher, William Perry, who led him in a unique direction for his artistic practice and career.

“Shout-out to Mr. Perry,” Smith added. “He helped to really steer my career. He would take me to the art museum and helped me out with my portfolio. And that got me into SAIC.”

Prior to graduating from high school in 2005, Smith had received over $40,000 in scholarship funds from different colleges and art institutions—this was the highest amount in his alma mater. He arrived at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago the following fall. Smith released his comic book titled Choi during his time at SAIC, visiting South Korea for research and inspiration. In 2009, he would complete his bachelor’s in fine arts with a focus on graphic illustration and sculpture.

“I wanted to challenge myself,” he said. “I stayed there all four years. I was an RA (resident assistant) and an orientation leader. And that kind of handles the journey from St. Louis to Chicago.”

Smith landed a job as an assistant for renowned sculptor Theaster Gates, and later received an opportunity to give back to his community as an art instructor at the Gary Comer Youth Center, teaching the basics of fine arts to youth of color.

“They were short-staffed,” Smith added. “A friend of Theaster’s reached out to him and said, ‘Hey, we’re short-staffed here [Gary Comer Youth Center]. We can use another teaching artist. What about that guy that works for you? Do you think he would be interested in teaching?’ And then, that’s how I got that job.”

For the next 14 years, Smith taught art at other local nonprofit organizations; he even taught cartoon and anime design at Columbia College Chicago, an institution that offered him a scholarship while he was in high school. Smith also revised workshops and developed curriculums at Northwestern University School of Law for the Know Your Rights program, which focused on empowering youth to know their rights and protect their rights. Smith has devoted much of his time to teaching art to incarcerated minors.

“I love youth,” he said. “And youth work is so important.”

In 2012, Smith’s love for comics sparked the idea to co-create a convention for all comic enthusiasts, especially those of color—that’s when Pocket Con first came into existence.

“Back when we started the convention, I used to teach at the Gary Comer Youth Center,” Smith said. “That’s actually where the name of the convention comes from. Like from “Pocket Town” in that area of 75th and South Chicago. And back during that time, I was teaching a comic book illustration class. I was asking a youth like, ‘Hey, do you know any comic book heroes of color?’ And after doing like a self-portrait project, all of the kids were drawing themselves as white folks. When I asked them if they know any characters of color, one student said ‘Batman.’ He said it because his suit was black. He didn’t identify any other characters that they could think of that were Black superhero characters.”

“I have been going to different conventions. And shout out to Turtel Onli, who used to run the Black Age of Comics at the DuSable Museum of African American History, they would have a table there. And when I went there and I was just like, ‘Yo, this is really dope. But I would love to see this happen on a larger scale.’ And that’s where Pocket Con came from.”

Pocket Con includes music and dance performances, workshops, panels, video gaming setups, and costumes. Phenomenal artists such as Turtel Onli, Maurice Buckley, Lenny Alves, Ramel Hill, Andrea Pearson, and Robin Carnilius will be attending this event. The Microphone Misfitz, Rai Musica, Jovan Landry, Electric Mothership, and Juke 4 Liberation will be the musical guests.

“It’s all been a diverse event and whatnot,” Smith added. “It’s going to be super-diverse even with our artists that we chose this year, which is what I am super excited about too.”

Pocket Con is a haven for anyone who admires the stories and graphic illustrations of comic books, regardless of color; that’s what Smith wants to create by giving people from all backgrounds a space to celebrate their love of comics for an entire day.

“We want to make sure that the demographics are as balanced and diverse as possible,” he said. “We want to make sure that there’s a large amount of female artists too. We want to make sure that the comics reflect the community that I live in, and you live in. It is a celebration of creators and characters of color because we live in a world of color. I want to make sure the convention reflects that, and that’s also going to be reflected in the artists.”

Find the full schedule and more on the event page.