(Headline USA) Chaos broke out in the Texas legislature last week after a transgender activist compared lawmakers to Nazis for opposing drag performances in front of children.
The activist, Loren Perkins, claimed in a speech on the state Senate floor that a bill criminalizing drag performances in the presence of minors comes from a “fascist ideology” like that from “a small man with a smaller mustache” in 1930s Germany.
“By manipulating the words of an ancient text and shoehorning it into legislation aimed at an at-risk minority population, you liken yourself to another group that gained popularity in Germany in the 1930s,” Perkins said.
“When a small man with a smaller mustache stood before crowds and proclaimed himself superior to others—I see you here doing the same,” Perkins added. “By hiding your bigotry behind children like cowards, you will find yourself on the wrong side of history.”
Perkins continue to rant against state lawmakers past the allotted two minutes, at which point state Senate officials tried to intervene.
In a video that has since gone viral, another unidentified activist can be seen wrestling Sergeant-at-Arms Austin Osborn as he tried to turn off Perkins’s microphone.
Even after the microphone was cut, Perkins continued to shout in the chamber, berating lawmakers.
Texas Lt. Gov Dan Patrick slammed the activists’ behavior as “unacceptable” and said it “will not be permitted.”
“We will not tolerate unruly behavior in the Texas Senate from witnesses,” Patrick tweeted.
One of the bills the activists were protesting against is SB 12, which would impose a $10,000 fine on business owners who host sexually-orientated drag shows in front of children.
It defines a sexually oriented performance as one in which someone is naked or in drag and “appeals to the prurient interest in sex,” according to the Texas Tribune.
The other bill, SB 1601, would withhold state funds from public libraries that host Drag Queen Story Hours.
