Council hears citizen’s concerns on local drag shows

The Red Oak City Council heard questions regarding the enforcement of Red Oak’s City Code, specifically Chapter 125, regarding adult entertainment facilities and how it pertains to drag shows, such as the Iowa Drag Brunch, which has been hosted previously in Red Oak.
The discussion was sparked by Red Oak resident Ray Simmons,  who said he was speaking before the council as a pastor, a Christian, a father, and a Red Oak resident, and told the council he had a background in ethics and public policy.
Simmons said he wanted to bring up two items of background before discussing the legal aspect, morality and legislation.
“There is at the foundation a moral issue at stake. The Bible makes it a point to say God created mankind, male and female, distinctly. Accordingly, it prohibits cross-dressing, and sadly, these shows are constructed to militate against these fundamental truths of the created order. They’re also disrespectful to women. Drag exaggerates female attributes to the point of derision,” Simmons said.
Simmons claimed there was no question in anyone’s minds that the drag shows were about normalizing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender population, and that all of these were presented in the bible as opposing the created order.
Simmons said the State of Florida’s legislature recently passed a bill against minors attending adult live performances, and one of the definitions of those performances were prosthetic or imitation genitals or breasts. Also, Simmons cited a recent poll that showed Iowans were against the LGBTQ indoctrination of children, and had a drag bill in the legislature.
“The bill was on the books this year, but it was killed in subcommittee by Sen. Jason Schultz because it wasn’t durable enough, it wasn’t a good enough bill. He’s a strong supporter of protecting children from this, and has made it a top priority of presenting that next year in Iowa,” Simmons said. “My point is that the momentum and trajectory is towards criminalization of these shows when children are present,” commented Simmons.
Simmons said he contacted a lawyer about presenting an ordinance to protect minors from drag shows, and the lawyer advised him to look at the code, leading him to discover Ordinance Chapter 125.
“He took a look at our code, and where it says male and female impersonators is designated as adult entertainment. This is the specific legal terminology used for drag shows across the country. I contacted the city and received the reason why the city had not enforced the code,” stated Simmons.
The ordinance was given a legal review by city attorney Bri Sorensen, and Simmons shared the legal review.
“In this case, Mrs. Sorensen has brought up some very good technical points. She rightly looks at the whole document to include the definitions, and context is important to her. She points to 125.02 and says if an event is to be considered adult entertainment, it must be characterized by the things listed there, including the definition of sex acts and specified anatomical areas. We have to admit for some reason, the authors put in the phrase male and female impersonators,” Simmons said. “If we use the legal analysis from the city attorney, I don’t think we need that term at all. As far as I can tell, you can get everything you need by the existing definition of sex act, and remove male and female impersonators altogether, and it wouldn’t make a difference. Even a tractor show would follow the same restrictions. If someone does a sex act on the back of Uncle Bob’s Farmall, now we have an adulttractor show.”
Simmons also said obscenity was not protected by the first amendment rights to free speech.
“I know there’s more technical aspects of that, but generally, when we’re talking about children, obscenity is not a contested issue when it comes to the first amendment. How do you define obscenity? Most public policy uses Miller Vs. California, a three point criteria,” Simmons stated. “I think Justice Potter Stewart’s famous statement is even better. I know it when I see it. If in your mind, you see a scantily dressed woman dancing in a bar and people are holding up dollar bills, what do you have in mind?”
Simmons also shared photos with the council that he’d collected from the Iowa Drag Brunch Facebook page as examples he felt were in violation of Chapter 125.
“I don’t know if there’s ever been a non-sexual drag show. One of the things that Mrs. Sorensen points out is that there has to be specific sexual acts or anatomical areas. We see some of those things there, and they’re not all that way, but as an author, I took a lot of time choosing the cover for my book. The cover portrays what I want people to see, you have to consider that,” Simmons said.
Simmons felt the city’s legal review had some good points but did not give enough credence to the overall intent to protect children, and Simmons felt it was the council’s job to enforce the intent of the law. Simmons also sought legal review from another attorney, which the council reviewed.
“This review says a plain reading of 125.02 provides that male and female impersonators constitute adult entertainment or amusement. In the same way it’s impossible to divorce an actual stripper from sexual content, drag shows cannot be divorced from their inherent sexuality, and drag shows routinely include sexual discussions and jokes, as well as dances and performances,” said Simmons. “If you know the name of the group, you may be able to find sexually suggestive photos and videos of these performers which would clearly violate that section. If presented to the council, I think they would be on notice that this type of show is not allowable except by the city’s granting a license. The city attorney admitted she’s not a drag show expert. Her suggestion of monitoring the performance for violations of the code seems insufficient. The purpose of the licensing is to restrict this form of entertainment before it begins.”
The legal review also said that if the city did not agree the drag shows were inherently sexual, perhaps it would request the organizers provide a summary of what of the performance may be sexual in nature. Simmons closed his comments by saying the city needed to enforce the code, and/or place a temporary moratorium on drag shows, which he felt were very possibly in violation of the city code.
Bri Sorensen the addressed the council and said the code did address adult entertainment with very specific depictions, and wouldn’t argue that drag generally had a sexual depiction to it, and appreciated the attorney’s opinion that was shared. She also stated 14 states have tried to, and pass various bills banning drag shows, while a bill in Iowa failed.
“The bill was set before the Iowa legislature and that made it so minors 14 and under were not allowed to attend. That bill failed for whatever reason, and there is no law regarding attendance for drag shows in the State of Iowa Code,” said Sorensen.
Sorensen reference Iowa Code Chapter 728, specifically paragraph 11. The statute preempted the city from entering into or passing any laws that would dictate or regulate adult content that is exposed children.
“It’s more broad than just children, but the primary goal of Chapter 728 is regarding obscene material and the exposure to minor children. Iowa is a home rule state, and that means local governments are allowed to govern as they see fit, unless the state legislature has passed a law that speaks on that issue, and specifically can pre-empt local governments from regulating those specific area,” advised Sorensen.  “Paragraph 11 states in order to provide for the uniform application of the provisions of this chapter relating to obscene material applicable to minors within the state, it is intended that the sole and only regulation of obscene material shall be under the provisions of this chapter, and no municipailty, county, or other governmental unit within the state shall make any law, ordinance, or regulation relating to the availability of obscene materials. All such laws, ordinance or regulations shall become void, unenforceable, and have no effect on January 1, 1978.”
Sorensen said the state code was specifically cited by the Iowa Supreme Court as recently as 2013, when the City of Hamburg was sued regarding Shotgun Geniez.
“The ordinance in place for the City of Hamburg at the time was very similar to the code the City of Red Oak has regarding adult entertainment. My legal opinion is not whether drag shows are inappropriate, and not whether children should be exposed to them. While the pastor did say that obscene content is not protected by the first amendment, expression is protected by the first amendment,” Sorensen stated.
As to whether drag shows could be categorized as sexual content, she wasn’t certain if the Iowa Supreme Court would uphold it, or say some can be regulated but not enforce a city-wide ban.
“The categorization of all drag shows being sexually explicit to the extent the city code defines it, I think, would be determined by the Iowa Supreme Court as being overly broad,” Sorensen explained Sorensen.
If the council wished to act further, Sorensen said Chapter 728 of the State Code allowed for regulation by the city in terms of zoning, which was the only avenue the city had for regulating obscenity, as it was otherwise pre-empted by the state legislature.
“The city could identify in zoning ordinances where adult entertainment, as defined, would be prohibited. The council can certainly take the categorical view that all drag shows are adult entertainment as defined by the city’s code, but my legal analysis is that it would not be successful if taken to task on it. If the city’s goal is to regulate these types of shows, I would advise you to look towards a better avenue,” said Sorensen. “A more immediate solution would be, as this other attorney suggests, to ask for a description of what type of this show it is going to be, and put the entertainers and business owners on notice that if it rises to the level where buttocks are showing, or the nudity described by the State Code and the city’s code is defined as obscene, that it’s a violation and that the city will be watching to make sure it’s not occurring. I’d also be happy to talk about changes in the zoning ordinance and the locations where adult entertainment would be permitted.”
Red Oak Mayor Shawnna Silvius asked whether the city could notify a business that no minors were allowed, limit ticket sales to adults, and have a police officer observing, whether that was an avenue to regulate an upcoming drag show.
Sorensen said the city could do so, as long as it was staying within Chapter 728 of what was regulated.
No further discussion was held.