Jefferson County Repeals Ban On Minors At ‘Adult’ Performances

Updated on Saturday, December 21 at 11:20 a.m.

The Jefferson County Commission has lifted an ordinance banning minors from “adult live performances” — including some drag shows — just a year and a half after its passage.

In June 2023, the commission narrowly voted to prohibit residents under age 18 from attending any performance that “depicts” or “discusses” nudity, “sexual conduct” or other forms of “obscenity.” The policy was repealed Thursday in a 3-2 vote.

At the time of its passage, some Jefferson County residents expressed concern that the ordinance was created to target drag performers.

While drag performance was not specifically referenced in the ordinance’s text, opponents said it bore similarities to anti-drag laws passed in other states, like Tennessee.

The ordinance was proposed by former Commissioner Jennifer Krouse, then a Republican. Krouse was removed from office by a circuit court this spring for refusing to attend several weeks of meetings over a conflict regarding vacancy filling protocol.

During the June 2023 meeting when the ordinance was passed, Krouse described drag performances as a risk to children.

“I’ve been to a drag show, I had a great time. It was fun,” Krouse said in June 2023. “There was no reason to have kids there. It was not a political thing, but it was funny, it was light-hearted, nothing serious about it. These days, that’s changed. It’s become overtly political. It’s become very, very sexual in nature.”

Some civil rights groups call characterizations like these unfair.

“It’s a dangerous stereotype that should be beneath our elected leaders. Drag is a beloved art form that has brought joy and laughter to millions around the world,” said Andrew Schneider, executive director of the LGBTQ advocacy group Fairness West Virginia, in a press release Friday.

“From the very beginning, it was clear that this ordinance had nothing to do with actually protecting children, and everything to do with making LGBTQ+ people seem like a dangerous threat to families,” Schneider said.

Under the policy, individuals who performed “obscene” content in the presence of minors faced a $500 fine or 30 days in jail for their first offense, and a $1,000 fine and six months in jail for subsequent offenses.

Jack Jarivs, communications director for Fairness West Virginia, told West Virginia Public Broadcasting that this discouraged drag performances at large.

“The ordinance really didn’t have a ton of legal teeth to ban drag performances, or to ban drag performances, but that was never the goal of this ordinance as enacted,” he said. “The goal was to scare people, so people would be afraid of hosting drag.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia expressed similar concerns in a June 2023 post on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. They wrote that the policy aimed to “create confusion and chill free speech,” and said they would take legal action if it was used to target drag performers.

Some commissioners were concerned with the ordinance’s implications on a legal level.

In an email statement to West Virginia Public Broadcasting, Jefferson County Commissioner Cara Keys said the ordinance “stumbled over state law in a way that could potentially reduce a child’s protection.”

Keys, a Republican representing Shepherdstown, voted in favor of the policy’s repeal. She said the policy contained weaker penalties for “displaying obscene material to a minor” than similar laws on the state level.

Under West Virginia’s double jeopardy law, Keys said this meant someone convicted for violating the county policy might not be eligible to face a trial for those same charges on the state level, giving them a more lenient sentence.

“As a mother of four young children, I care deeply about the safety of all Jefferson county children,” she wrote. “I believe this ordinance was not given the proper legal consideration and public comment before being rushed through.”

Commission President Steve Stolipher and Commissioner Jane Tabb, who also voted to repeal the ordinance, did not respond to an email request for comment on this story. Neither did Commissioner Pasha Majdi or Commissioner Jack Hefestay, who voted against the repeal.

Meanwhile, Jarivs said that advocacy groups in the state view their decision as a win for the LGBTQ community.

“I think as more people learn and meet LGBTQ+ people in their lives, they’ll realize that we are just your friends, your neighbors. We’re your teachers, your coaches, your coworkers,” he said. “We’re just trying to live our lives authentically and free from discrimination.”

“I’m so grateful that we continue to see more small, rural communities across our state adopting inclusive laws,” Jarvis continued. “I’m hopeful for the future.”

**Editor’s note: This story was updated to include a comment from Jefferson County Commissioner Cara Keys.