Kelsea Ballerini Protests Drag Ban By Performing With Drag Queens At CMT Awards

You can try to take drag queens out of Tennessee, but you can’t keep them away from the country music world. CMT Music Awards host Kelsea Ballerini protested proposed drag bans across the U.S., including her home state of Tennessee, by performing with drag queens on April 2 in Austin, Texas. RuPaul’s Drag Race alums Manila Luzon, Jan Sport, Oliva Lux, and Kennedy Davenport joined Ballerini as she performed her new single “If You Go Down (I’m Goin’ Down Too).”

Ballerini and the queens transported viewers back to the 1960s, donning their Sunday best and holding an unapologetically colorful barbecue in front of a white picket fence. After putting down her pink guitar and shrugging off her green coat, the group strutted down the catwalk together and proudly showed off their looks. If the queens’ mere presence didn’t make Ballerini’s message clear, the performance ending with confetti falling under rainbow lights sure did.

In March, the Tennessee State Senate introduced Senate Bill 3, which would ban “adult cabaret performances” in front of people under the age of 18 within the state. Drag performances are included as part of this order, which is garnering backlash nationwide from LGBTQ+ communities and allies. Many artists from country music and beyond, including Kacey Musgraves, have spoken out against the bill, and Madonna scheduled a Nashville show on her Celebration Tour with special guest Bob the Drag Queen in protest, with proceeds going to LGBTQ+ organizations in the state.

On March 31, the bill was halted when a federal judge ordered the ban to be temporarily paused just hours before it was to go into effect, calling it “constitutionally vague.” But the fight isn’t over yet, making Ballerini’s protest especially timely. After the performance, the drag queens talked to Entertainment Tonight about the significance of their inclusion. “Just like all these amazing country music artists, we drag queens are also artists,” Luzon said. “And we deserve a space to be ourselves, express ourselves, and create something wonderful for everyone to enjoy.”

Lux explained that while rehearsing the number with Ballerini, she encouraged them to really make their presence known on stage. “She was like, take up that space, you know, this is your time as well, and amplify the fact that you’re here,” she said. “Even the song, if you’re going down, I’m going down too — it is about the celebration of being a community. And I think that’s what we did on the stage tonight. And I really hope that transcended some people as well. It felt like it did.”