(C) Daily Montanan This story was originally published by Daily Montanan and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Montana Pride in full swing in Helena under temporary protection from the court – Daily Montanan [1] ['Nicole Girten', 'More From Author', '- August'] Date: 2023-08-06 HELENA — Montana Pride organizer Kevin Hamm took the stage of the street drag performance on Last Chance Gulch on Saturday night, an event that would have been illegal a little more than a week prior. Hamm, who is also running as a Democrat in Montana’s second congressional district, told the crowd he considered not running Montana Pride, thinking this could be the year someone else took the reins. “And then our legislative session happened,” Hamm said. “They told me we can’t have drag?” Hamm said he had a better idea: “I’m going to get two screens.” Hamm said the two screens showed the drag performances on either end of the downtown walking mall so people could watch from drinking holes downtown. The Friday before the weeklong events of Montana Pride were slated to begin, a federal judge issued a temporary relief order (TRO) in a lawsuit over Montana’s drag ban that passed during the 2023 legislative session. House Bill 359, sponsored by Rep. Braxton Mitchell, R-Columbia Falls, made drag performances on public property that could be in view of minors illegal, with potential fines for businesses and an avenue for civil litigation. In the wake of the relief granted from the court, Montana Pride went forward in Helena, attracting thousands of attendees from across the state — many of whom said the event was a hard-fought celebration. Saturday marked the culmination of a weeklong party featuring a parade, a rally, two Drag Story Hours, an outdoor drag performance and more. The Pride Parade route led attendees to Fire Tower Park, where legislators, candidates and Helena Mayor Wilmot Collins gave speeches in support of Pride. “We must continue to fight against the lingering shadows of bigotry, hatred and inequality that still haunt us today,” said Collins, the first Black mayor in Montana. “Today we celebrate the freedom to love and to be loved just as we are.” The City of Helena was named as a defendant in the lawsuit when city staff told Hamm they would not be issuing permits for Pride because of the drag ban. However, the city submitted a filing in court agreeing with Montana Pride’s request for the restraining order, saying the bill forced the city to either infringe on constitutional rights to free speech or subject city staff to civil and criminal liability under the bill. “The city attorney threw the state under the bus so hard that their lawyer didn’t know what to do,” Hamm told press after the rally. City and federal law enforcement officials patrolled downtown Helena on Saturday, with Hamm saying a handful of people in opposition to the events were on their radar. Montana Book Company, a Helena bookstore that has hosted Drag Story Hours before and did so again, is also one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the drag ban. Co-owner Chelsia Rice said it’s been a “mess of emotions” leading up to the events Saturday. HB 359 specifically defined and banned Drag Story Hour events in public libraries and schools during normal business hours. Montana Book Company, an LGBTQ+-owned bookstore, hosted two story hours with drag performers from Missoula and Great Falls on Saturday afternoon. In light of nationalized opposition, Rice said she wished people knew performers at the bookstore are instructed to be modest in dress and performance and that each performer is background-checked prior to the story hour. Julie Yard, who performs with the Mister Sisters drag troupe out of Great Falls, said Drag Story Hour was her favorite part of Pride. She said parents come up to her and other performers after story time and tell them about the struggles of raising a potentially queer kid, but those kids get to see a welcoming community in their home state. “Hopefully that just gets rid of any of the fear or the anxiety of being a queer kid who is coming up in a state that’s actively trying to kind of erase you from the public eye,” Yard said. “So that to me is worth it.” Elena King, 7, attended Drag Story Hour alongside her family on Saturday and said her favorite part of the event was learning sign language — taught by hearing impaired drag performer Jackie, who uses the last name Rosebutch when not at story hours. King said her favorite sign she learned was for “Brave,” where both hands touch shoulders and form fists. “People shouldn’t be made fun of just because they’re different,” King said. Heather King, Elena’s mom, said she brought her family to the Drag Story Hour at Montana Book Company last year as well. She said she brings her kids as a way to teach them to be loving and caring to everyone. Drag performer Eunice, who performs as a non-binary entertainer and uses the last name “Bourgeois” for story hours, read “Neither,” a story about a creature looking for a place where they fit in. They said their favorite part was watching the children’s faces lighting up at the stories of acceptance and love. They started reading at Drag Story Hours earlier this year. “I’m a woman in my day to day life – I throw 15-millimeter lash on and I can be around kids, but I throw a 25-millimeter lash on and that’s not OK?” they said. “That doesn’t make sense to me.” Shawn Reagor with the Montana Human Rights Network took to the stage that night at the street drag show, where around a dozen performers lip synched and twirled on Last Chance Gulch, and said he was a “survivor of the 2023 legislative session.” “And so are you!” “They’re afraid of us, they’re afraid of this, they’re afraid of our joy and our resilience, our color and our love,” Reagor said to cheers. “You can’t stop it. You can’t prevent it. And you can’t hold it back.” [END] --- [1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2023/08/06/montana-pride-in-full-swing-in-helena-under-temporary-protection-from-the-court/ Published and (C) by Daily Montanan Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/montanan/