Men in drag at my childhood church didn't traumatize me
The congregation had a rollicking good time at the performance
The Tennessee General Assembly recently passed a bill that will make it illegal to hold a drag show on public property or at places where such shows can be seen by minors.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed the bill into law despite the appearance on the internet of a picture of him wearing a dress at some event while he was in high school. The governor says he wasn’t in a drag show but has not explained what he was doing dressed as a woman.
The new law that will go into effect on April 1 will make first-time drag performance offenders guilty of misdemeanors, but subsequent offenses could be classified as felonies and be punishable by prison sentences of up to six years.
I do not claim to be an expert on drag shows. Unlike Lee, I have never worn a dress, either in public or private. But if a drag show is a performance where men dress as women or women dress as men, I did attend a drag show when I was just a boy, 7 or 8 years old. It was held at the Baptist church in Memphis where my father was the minister, and it was directed by my mother.
It was called a “Womanless Wedding” and featured men from the church dressed as the bride and bridesmaids, and some of the sisters of our church dressed as the groom, the “best man” and groomsmen. My mother tried to cast my father in the role of the bride, but Dad refused to put on a bridal gown. He was probably concerned that if officials from the Southern Baptist Convention saw a picture of him in a dress, they might take away his preacher’s license as Baptists prohibited women from being ministers.
The Womanless Wedding was held in the church fellowship hall and was a big success. The congregation had a rollicking good time at the performance. I loved every minute of it, and it had no impact on me other than laughter. I laughed just as I did when I saw my favorite TV star, Don Knotts, as Barney Fife wearing a dress on “Andy of Mayberry” or my favorite comedian, Milton Berle, who often dressed as a woman on his variety show. Watching Barney Fife, Uncle Miltie and several Baptist deacons wearing dresses did not tempt me to put on a dress myself.
I recall that at the time our church wasn’t the only church In Memphis that had a Womanless Wedding. It was Baptist entertainment for several congregations.
I am grateful that at the time of our Baptist Womanless Wedding, the Tennessee legislature had not criminalized such an event.
I would hate to have seen my mother arrested.
Bill Haltom is a writer who lives in Memphis and Monteagle.