Tool’s Maynard James Keenan denies protesting against Florida’s anti-drag laws
Tool’s Maynard James Keenan has said his decision to wear drag on-stage in Florida at the Welcome to Rockville festival on May 21st wasn’t politically motivated. The band’s appearance at the festival came days after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis passed a series of bills against the transgender community.
For Tool’s performance, Keenan wore a blonde wig, red lipstick, and prosthetic breasts but denies his attire was a protest against laws in Florida. “I’m not a political fella — had nothing to do with Florida,” he told The Messenger. The singer continued: “I’ve been cross-dressing since long before these clickbait-junkie dupes were out of diapers. It’s pretty crazy the technology and the prosthetics nowadays, how they’ve come along, and I just was considering bringing the look back.
“It’s amazing to me how every single thing you say or do is twisted and conformed into some fundamentalist far-right or far-left agenda,” Keenan continued. His decision to wear drag was technically a violation of Florida law as minors are now banned from attending drag shows and Welcome to Rockville is a festival open to all ages. However, he’s yet to face any repercussions for his actions. “Nobody’s enforcing it. They just do that and they throw it out there to shore up their base for an election year,” the singer said.
In the same interview, Keenan also condemned the bill: “I think limiting people’s access to anything is absurd. Good parenting allows you to teach your kids how to be reasonable and reason and puzzle things out and decide for themselves what the fuck they wanna see or not wanna see.”
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