‘Left wing’ attack, says Fort Worth lawmaker seen in video wearing dress as student
A Fort Worth lawmaker who has filed legislation to make places that host drag show performances “sexually oriented businesses” is seen in a video wearing a dress when he was a theater student.
NBC News on Wednesday reported on a video circulating on Twitter and TikTok that shows a group of people skipping and running, including a man wearing a black dress and red mask identified as Republican Rep. Nate Schatzline.
Schatzline, who is in his first term, shared a video he posted on Twitter when reached for comment by the Star-Telegram.
“It has been an interesting week, a very interesting day, as left wing news media has done exactly what they do, and that is twist stories to be something that they’re not,” Schatzline said. “Look, the left wing is attacking me because of some class project I did as a teenager where my buddies dared me to wear a dress. But we’re not going to 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.”
The video of Schatzline wearing a dress was shared on Twitter and TikTok by Michelle Davis, the editor of Living Blue in Texas, a liberal opinion and political website. Davis said the video was shared with her but declined to say who sent it.
“Nate Schatzline has made his entire personality attacking the LGBTQ community, trans especially children, and vowed to ban drag shows in Texas,” Davis wrote on Twitter. “Here is Nate… in drag. #txlege #iToldYouSo”
Replying to the tweet, Schatzline wrote in a post that he wore the dress for a theater project when he was a student.
“Y’all really going crazy over me wearing a dress as a joke back in school for a theatre project?,” the reply reads. “Yah, that’s not a sexually explicit drag show… lol y’all will twist ANYTHING. Michelle, please find something better to do than look up old videos from when people were in school.”
Schatzline’s bill, House Bill 1266, defines a drag performance as a “performance in which a performer exhibits a gender identity that is different than the performer ’s gender assigned at birth using clothing, makeup, or other physical markers and sings, lip syncs, dances, or otherwise performs before an audience for entertainment.”
Nightclubs, bars, restaurants and other businesses where drag performances are held for two more more people would be considered “sexually oriented businesses,” the same category as businesses that offer live, nude entertainment. The proposal is one of four bills like it that have been filed in the House and Senate.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, who is expected to sign a bill restricting drag shows, has made headlines for wearing women’s clothes in a yearbook photo.
This story was originally published March 1, 2023 at 5:46 PM.
