“Dragula” star appears at government hearing in full drag, shuts down official over anti-trans bill

Maxi Glamour opposed a Missouri bill they say draws "parallels between the sexual trauma of children and the public presence of trans individuals and drag performers."

The Boulet Brothers' Dragula star Maxi Glamour brought full-face makeup, hair, and looks straight to the Missouri government's door as they combatted proposed anti-drag and anti-trans legislation in their hometown of St. Louis.

The Dragula season 3 star was among the drag entertainers, trans individuals, and allies who appeared Wednesday before Missouri officials to defend the LGBTQIA+ community from the introduction of the state's House Bill No. 1650, which would severely limit where drag entertainers, trans individuals, and any "male or female impersonators who provide entertainment," as the bill's language states, could appear in public.

In video from the hearing publicly available via the Missouri House of Representatives' archives, Maxi called the bill "inherently homophobic and transphobic" and pushed back against Rep. Hannah Kelly, who maintained that the bill — sponsored by Rep. Mazzie Christensen — would protect children from traumas related to seeing "adult cabaret" performances in public, among other sentiments that seemingly support the false assumption that all drag performances are inherently sexual.

Maxi summarized the bill as "creating this vacuum that makes it so that drag and gender non-conforming presentation is not permitted within any space of the city," and that the law "would make it so that drag would be eradicated based on the zoning laws" of St. Louis.

Later, on social media, Maxi addressed their appearance by hitting out at Republicans who they said labeled drag entertainers as "inherently lewd and sexually deviant," and characterized the bill as potentially implementing "zoning laws that determine where sexually oriented businesses may operate" in the city.

"The discourse around this legislation has included contentious statements from a Republican representative who attempted to draw parallels between the sexual trauma of children and the public presence of trans individuals and drag performers, equating them as similarly harmful," Maxi wrote on Instagram. "Despite the polarizing nature of these discussions, we ended up on the same page."

EW has reached out to Maxi for further comment.

Wednesday's hearing came amid an uptick in politicians targeting the LGBTQIA+ community across the last two years, including similar bills introduced in Texas and Tennessee, which prompted passionate responses from other contestants from Dragula, RuPaul's Drag Race, and even Mama RuPaul.

Maxi rose to national prominence on season 3 of The Boulet Brothers' Dragula in 2019, where they competed against eventual winner Landon Cider in the horror-themed reality series.

Among Maxi's notable moments from the show was a jaw-dropping elimination challenge from the premiere, which tasked the entertainer with jumping out of an airplane from 18,000 feet in an effort to prove their determination to stay on the show. They ultimately survived the segment, and finished the season in eighth place overall.

Watch Maxi speak at the Missouri House of Representatives hearing above.

Subscribe to EW's Quick Drag podcast for recaps of RuPaul's Drag Race, including reactions from the cast, special guests, and more.

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Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.