Iowa ACLU Challenges Drag Show Bans in Five Cities

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Iowa has sent letters to five cities—Carroll, Harlan, Mt. Pleasant, Polk City, and Webster City—urging them to revise local ordinances that classify drag performances as adult entertainment, arguing these laws are unconstitutional. The ACLU contends that these restrictions violate First Amendment free speech rights by broadly targeting drag as obscene or sexual when many performances are family-friendly forms of expression. ACLU attorney Shefali Aurora emphasized that the ordinances also violate equal protection rights by discriminating against LGBTQ performers based on sex and gender expression. The ACLU is requesting that the cities remove terms like "female impersonators" and "male impersonators" from their adult entertainment definitions, noting that existing state laws already regulate obscene speech. This action follows similar efforts in other Iowa cities, where changes were made after the ACLU's intervention, and comes amid Pride Month to highlight the laws' impact on LGBTQ communities. The ACLU has asked the cities to respond within two weeks regarding their plans to amend the ordinances.