A bill to crack down on drag shows started moving again Wednesday at the North Carolina General Assembly.

Senate Bill 579 passed the state Senate unanimously in early May, but it morphed Wednesday in the House, picking up extra sections that generated concern from Democratic lawmakers that the measure will be too broad.

Other WRAL Top Stories

Several lawmakers questioned whether the bill would forbid Broadway shows that include nudity from being performed at publicly owned theaters, like the Durham Performing Arts Center or Thalian Hall in Wilmington. Democrats also said the bill seems to ban the annual Beaver Queen Pageant fundraiser in Durham, despite it being considered a family friendly event.

“We are going way too broad,” Rep. Marcia Morey, D-Durham, said of the proposal, which cleared committee Wednesday and may be on the House floor soon for a key vote.

Republican bill supporters said the measure is a response to a performance this spring at Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem, where a dancer in drag straddled a student. The college has dual enrollment, meaning high school students as young as 14 come to campus, and the bill comes from parents who want to protect their children, Rep. Jeff Zenger, R-Forsyth, said.

The bill doesn’t change the state’s definition of adult entertainment, but it adds clear restrictions against adult entertainment on public property, including buildings owned by the government. Violating this section would be a Class A1 misdemeanor on first offense, the most serious type of misdemeanor in North Carolina law. The bill also explicitly forbids adult entertainment in front of anyone younger than 18.

Current law generally generally defines this entertainment as live performances involving nudity, suggestive clothing, sexual acts, aroused genitals even if they're covered and "fondling or other erotic touchings."

After the Forsyth Tech incident, Zenger said, “we realized there were some spaces in the law that could be tightened."

The bill would also add a new crime to state law: Sexual contact with a minor. This would cover “intentional touching” by an adult with a minor that can “reasonably be construed as being for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification.” This would also be a Class A1 misdemeanor.

The bill also ups the state’s punishment for exhibiting sexual obscenity in front of a minor, which is already a felony, to a more serious felony. That was all the initial Senate bill did. Sen. Buck Newton, R-Wilson, is the bill’s original sponsor. He declined to say Wednesday whether he would push the Senate to fight for his version of the bill or agree to the House changes.

Both chambers would have to agree before either version can become law.