a right to offend?

 And once again it was in the news, drag queens. I really pay little attention to those stories and so don't know all the details, but the drag queens were upset by some new ordinance prohibiting them from a public display. Apparently, the law is on their side in this case, and they will be allowed. First amendment rights are being exercised. All right I get that and yes grudgingly I have to agree that they have a first amendment right to freedom of speech. What I really don't understand is the apparent need to express that publicly. They are expressing something that the majority of the population finds offensive. I fail to see how that is any different from hate speech or hollering fire in a crowded theater. The result will always be something negative. How is it any different from other public displays, that are prohibited, that offend or make others uneasy? Consider lovers on a park bench. A tender kiss is fine, holding hands and even a warm embrace. Now if they are really "going at it" that's not allowed that's indecent! How do you justify that? Why isn't that expressing free speech? 

 Now I've heard and read where it has been said that drag queens are not inherently sexual. I've been told to shut up about something I know nothing about. It's true I know nothing about being a drag queen I wouldn't argue otherwise. The thing is, whether it is or it isn't, drag queens are always viewed in a sexual context. And that doesn't need to be a public thing. If you want to wear your wife's underwear that's your business, don't try to make it mine! Just keep that stuff private. There are private clubs for that stuff from what I understand. The public library in front of children is not the pace for that nor parading down main street. All of that for me comes under the same heading, just because you can doesn't mean you should. The majority of the population in our society consider those actions perverse! Yes, perverse. Perverse is defined as, (of a person or their actions) showing a deliberate and obstinate desire to behave in a way that is unreasonable or unacceptable, often in spite of the consequences: and I agree with that 100%. On a global scale it is estimated that between 1 and 3 per cent of the population are transgender or gender fluid. So that means somewhere between 96 and 99% of the population find those actions perverse. If you can decide and dictate what is "offensive" I can certainly decide and dictate what is perverse. Yeah, it's a two-way street. That's how binary works every time and in every single case.

 All that being said I'd still like to hear a reasonable explanation why these drag queens insist on going public. No one is saying they can't dress up and do what they want. Their homes and clubs aren't being raided by the police or anything like that. They even have television shows. There is some guy/girl or whatever he says he is named Ru Paul that enjoys worldwide popularity, no one is interfering with any of that. So, it isn't the fact that these drag queens, regardless of their sexual orientation or inclination are being vilified for that, the problem is being that in public. That, in my opinion, is the perversion of the law. And I don't understand why being in the public eye is so important to these people. There is only one explanation as far as I can tell. The desire to make themselves feel normal. They know being in drag isn't normal but want everyone else to think it is. It isn't. Putting it on a billboard or parading it down main street isn't going to change that. Tolerance isn't acceptance. They really are different actions. I may accept what you do privately, but not tolerate it publicly. That is my only issue with that. What you do in private among other consenting adults is your business, keep it that way. That's all I'm saying. Do you have the right to offend? There are plenty of things I can't do in public that are considered offensive. I would even be arrested for them. If, as a white guy, I was to parade down the street in blackface would that be allowed? Would the law protect me, grant ne a permit to parade down the main street or give a show in the children's library?  Heck you're not supposed to read Huckleberry Finn to kids today because it is offensive! But, drag queens on main street are not? They have the right to offend?