“One of the fundamental things about drag, drag history and it’s modern day in time is that it creates spaces for LGBTQ+ people and our allies to come together in spaces that are explicitly welcoming to us,” said Rex Pistols, a drag king who is a student leader for Montana State University’s Queer Straight Alliance.

“...It creates spaces for us to self-select, to engage with ourselves, and that’s important because then it gives us spaces to talk about our experiences, share them, validate them, realize we’re not alone. But also, that it doesn’t necessarily always have to be that we have to experience the bad things and figure out ways to experience the good things together.”

Earlier this year, state legislators passed a series of laws that contain strict definitions for gender, sex and drag, which LGBTQ+ advocates say violate the civil rights of transgender and queer people.

Senate Bill 99 would have banned gender affirming health care for minors, but it was blocked by a state district court judge days before it would have taken effect on Oct. 1.

Senate Bill 458, also passed this year, creates strict definitions of male and female genders and removes gender-based protections from the Montana Human Rights Act, which queer advocates say makes many queer people vulnerable to discrimination.

House Bill 359 prohibits drag shows or drag story hours on any property that receives state funding, which would include public schools and libraries. The law also prohibits minors from being at “sexually oriented” events, allowing children and their parents to sue people who they think are in violation — even at private businesses.

The bill currently cannot be enforced after a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against it in late July. Plaintiffs in the case against HB 359 said the law’s “vague and overbroad” definitions stifle First Amendment protections and can be used to prosecute transgender people for their identities.

Bozeman’s LGBTQ+ community has also faced discrimination in recent history. In February — while the Legislature was in session — MSU’s Queer Straight Alliance received death threats for promoting a drag event.

At Steep Mountain’s drag story hour on Dec. 9, performers said part of the event’s purpose was to show why the recent legislature is harmful to the state’s queer population by creating a supportive space for people to learn about gender and sexual identities.

The event was organized by the Queer Straight Alliance, Bridgercare and the Imperial Sovereign Court Court of the State of Montana, or ISCSM, a group that advocates for LGBTQ+ people through drag events.

The first half of the drag story hour was a reading from seven children’s books that have been banned in places across the country. Several families came with their young children to listen, including the tea shop’s owner, Serena Rundberg.

One of the books, “When Aidan Became a Brother,” by Kyle Lukoff, was challenged once within the past two years at the Bozeman Public Library, but was not taken off shelves by the library staff.

Pistols said drag story hours like the one on Dec. 9 would be heavily restricted or not possible under HB 359. At the event, drag queens Anita Shadow and Alotta Shadow, from ISCSM, led the reading for children.

“Some of the books that we get to bring to y’all for today’s story hour are books that aren’t necessarily allowed in other states in the U.S. right now,” Anita Shadow said at the start of the event. “And I think it’s pretty incredible that we get to be in spaces like this and share that joy and that education with all of you.”

After reading “It Feels Good to Be Yourself: A Book About Gender Identity,” by Theresa Thorn, Alotta Shadow said it’s helpful to have a space where you can talk about your gender identity if you need to.

“I didn’t know I was trans until I was 20 years old,” she said to the audience. “That’s a long time. I am currently transitioning, which is really fun and exciting ...There aren’t words to describe the euphoria that it is to get to become yourself.”

The adult portion of the reading was led by Queer Straight Alliance students, including Pistols, drag queen Cordelia Rose and non-binary drag jester Danger! Toxic.

Pistols introduced the book “Beyond Magenta,” by Susan Kuklin, which is a collection of interviews with transgender teens about their experiences.

“That is one of the ways that it is attacked, because it features trans kids and people are worried that it’s going to trans the kids,” Pistols said. “Realistically, what it’s doing is showing trans kids out there that there’s other people like them, and that their experience isn’t weird or bad.”

After the readings, Althea Reichert and Julie Kerr, both MSU students who work at Bridgercare, raffled off nine banned books to audience members. The books were donated from The Country Bookshelf and Elk River Books

The death threats emailed to the Queer Straight Alliance in February have caused the group’s members to stay cautious about holding events on campus, Pistols said.

The messages came in response to an off-campus drag show that the alliance promoted on social media, but did not organize, and threatened to send everyone attending the event — which they referred to as a “grooming party” — to an “early death in hell.”

In spite of the looming legal and discriminatory threats to the future of the group’s drag events, the organization still has several events planned for the future.

“We’re not going to back down and we have a really strong community,” Pistols told the Chronicle. “...It makes us feel safe to be able to do things like this.”

The group’s next event, New Queer’s Eve, will be an adult-only show featuring drag and burlesque performances, according to the alliance’s Instagram page. The event is schedule for Dec. 31 at the Rialto.