Arkansas enacted Act 131 restricting 'adult-oriented performances' after narrowing an explicit drag ban
On February 24, 2023, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed Senate Bill 43 into law as Act 131, adding a definition of "adult-oriented performance" to state code and barring such performances on public property, with public funds, or where minors are present. As introduced, the bill explicitly defined drag by reference to a performer's gender identity and classified it as a regulated adult-oriented business, but sponsors rewrote it twice to remove all references to drag and gender identity after opposition from LGBTQ advocates and the ACLU of Arkansas. The enacted content-based version reframed the restriction around nudity, prosthetic genitalia, and appeals to the "prurient interest."