#DragIsNotACrime is trending "HOT" right now!!

A bill that passed in the Tennessee state legislature which restricts "adult cabaret performances" in public or in the presence of children, and bans them from occurring within 1,000 feet of schools, public parks, or places of worship will take effect on July 1, 2023.  In response to this intolerance and bigotry the hashtag #DragIsNotACrime is being shared all over social media on all the different sites as well as being quoted in news stories and blog posts. 

As someone who "did drag" or also known as "performed in drag", I find this outrageous, cowardly, bigoted, and downright mean.  This backlash against Drag Performances is due to the close-minded conservative people who are brainwashed into thinking that Drag Queens reading to children at the public library or in a classroom is somehow harmful.

I designed the digital art to offer people a tangible way to show their support of drag performers everywhere.  Whether a person chooses to perform as a Drag Queen (female presenting), a Drag King (male presenting) or a non-gender specific Drag Performer they should not be in fear of being arrested, fined and/or jailed for expressing their artistic vision.

The pinback buttons, tote bags and coffee mugs are now available in my Etsy shop: 

The Lady Kay Designs

The really amazing part of all of this is these are the same people who have enjoyed movies and TV shows that depict drag throughout the last 50 years (albeit not always in a positive or even politically correct way). They may not watch RuPaul's Drag Race, but I would hazard a guess they've seen Klinger on M*A*S*H or Flip Wilson as Geraldine or Dustin Hoffman as Tootsie, not to mention Robin Williams as Mrs. Doubtfire or Julie Andrews as Victor/Victoria. One of the most popular movies of 1959, "Some Like It Hot" starred Marilyn Monroe with Tony Curtis & Jack Lemmon in drag!! Why yes, that Tony Curtis...you know, Jamie Lee Curtis' father!! One of the biggest hits on Broadway in the past ten years was the 2013 Best Musical Tony Award winning "Kinky Boots" which also awarded Best Actor in a Musical to Billy Porter for their portrayal of "Lola".

So obviously I have an opinion of how this should be represented, exalted and even applauded, not vilified and criminalized.  If you feel the same, how about we share how we feel when we're walking down the street carrying our purchases, sitting at our desks, or drinking coffee or tea in the break room at work!!  Proclaim your views on intolerance and show how open-minded and free-thinking you are with products that display "DRAG IS NOT A CRIME"!

Slainte Mhuth (Much Health)

Layout Update

2021.06.29 The Lady Kay Designs

Last month I changed the name of the blog to match my Etsy shop and a Page on FaceBook I've been updating so things are cohesive.  But today I did some editing and adding which gave me the notion that you should updated.  I've been crocheting a lot lately to create more inventory for The Lady Kay Designs on Etsy.  As well as having some of my photographs made into art prints, postcards, and magnets.  The hope is there will be a steady income from my shop by the time I need to retire from my day job as a custom picture framer/bookkeeper.

Hand crocheted lace collar

Imagine mosaic in Central Park, NYC

Yaquina Head Lighthouse, Newport, Oregon USA

If you click on one of the pictures above, it will take you to that listing in my Etsy shop.

In the interests of transparency, I have rearranged just a couple items on the blog.  I have removed the WIPs List from the sidebar as it didn't give me the functionality I liked as it only listed them alphabetically.  For this reason I created a new "page" which you can find in the list of pages on the sidebar.  

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

The WIPs (Works In Progress) page now has my WIPs listed in the order they were started with the oldest one at the top of the list and the newest at the bottom.  Additionally, I decided to utilize my list from January 1st of this year and make notations as to the dates of origin and completion, if applicable.

Here is the newest addition to the WIPs list.  This is called Butterfly Effect by Kate Powell and is from Heaven And Earth Designs (HAED).  My daughter loves butterflies and she picked this one out with me.  (You can find a link to the website in my list of favorite designers & suppliers in the side bar)

HAED Mini Butterfly Effect

I plan on creating a new list for each calendar year and having the most current one at the top of the page while retaining previous years below.  This way I can see at a glance how one year's work compares with another.

You may have noticed there is now advertising in the form of two small square banners in the sidebar and three different banners at the bottom of each page.  I know I don't have that many readers, but on the off chance something catches someone's eye, if you click on them I will earn a small pittance as an advertising affiliate.  

Additionally, I may add relevant links within future blog posts to make it easier for you to access the item(s) that are being shown and/or discussed.  There is no added cost to you, but if you click on the link and make a purchase, I will receive monetary compensation.

Photo by Melinda Gimpel on Unsplash

The final item I added to the sidebar is a "Contact Me" section.  If you have any questions and you do not wish to leave them in a comment, please message me and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading about the boring, legally responsible stuff!!  TTYL!!

Slainte Mhuth (Much health)