Yahoo News Sneak Peek: 'Meet the Press Reports' Returns with Deep-Dive on Nation's Growing Anti-Drag Movement (Exclusive)
In an exclusive clip, NBC News' Antonia Hylton travels to Tennessee to better understand why conservative lawmakers have adopted an anti-drag platform — and hear the stories of drag queens harmed most
NBC News
Meet the Press Reports returns to NBC News NOW on Friday with its season 6 premiere, focused on the growing anti-drag movement in America and what it means for the livelihood of LGBTQ+ performers across the nation.
PEOPLE got an early look at the first episode, in which NBC News correspondent Antonia Hylton travels to Tennessee to speak with drag queens about the impact of anti-drag legislation — and hear from the conservative lawmakers and activists lobbying to push LGBTQ+ people into the shadows.
Along the way, Hylton meets with Knoxville-based drag queen Story VanNess, a transgender woman who hosts a weekly drag show at a coffee shop-turned-karaoke bar, and her friend, drag performer Harri Scari, to see how they are holding up as pawns of a right-wing political movement.
"[Our] agenda is to just exist and to feel valid," Harri says in an exclusive clip from the segment, shown below. Story jumps in: "The agenda is to be able to go to the bathroom without having to worry about being punched in the face."
"All we can do is say that it's bad and it's wrong and, 'Please don't do this to us,' but [conservatives] have found us to be a really effective political tool," Harri adds.
RELATED: Tennessee Becomes First State to Pass Legislation Restricting Drag Shows
In the episode, Hylton also speaks with Republican state Sen. Jack Johnson, Tennessee's Senate majority leader, about his motive in helping pass legislation that puts heavy restrictions on drag shows. (Tennessee's bill was the first of its kind in the United States, but more than a dozen other states are already following suit.)
Other featured interviews in the premiere include a Nashville-area mother of four who opposes the drag movement; a Tennessee pastor who has advocated for laws to restrict drag shows; Jonathan Hamilt, executive director of Drag Story Hour in San Francisco; and three Drag Story Hour participants — Landa Lakes, Beatrice and Panda Dulce — the latter of whom was hosting a children's reading event at a library in June 2022 when a group of Proud Boys stormed in and began spewing hateful slurs and threats.
Following Hylton's segment, Meet the Press Reports host Chuck Todd will moderate a panel with University of California Santa Barbara historian and professor Leila Rupp and retired sociology professor and author Jim Jasper, focusing on the history of the LGBTQ+ movement.
Meet the Press Reports, a 30-minute newsmagazine series produced by the same team behind the eponymous political interview show, airs Fridays at 10:30 p.m. and Sundays at 11:30 a.m. on NBC News NOW. Episodes are available on Peacock and YouTube following the Friday broadcasts.
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