You ever see a news story that just makes you wonder “Why is that a thing?”

Happened to me.

Just last week the South Dakota Board of Regents, which oversees the state’s colleges and universities, sent out a breathless press release that had me shaking my head.

It seems there was a drag show on the SDSU campus sometime in November and the people on the board – no doubt afraid of political pressure – had worked themselves into a tizzy about it.

The news release was full of important sounding words like “moratorium” and “protocol” and “safeguards.” All of which seemed to me a tempest in a teapot.

But after I got done shaking my head, I truly had to laugh. So here’s my confession – to all of you and to the Regents as well:

I once helped organize – and participated in – a drag show. Almost exclusively for minors. On a public school campus. Right here in Brookings. Nearly 30 years ago. And I don’t think a single news release got sent about it, either.

For those of you who have forgotten, the BHS Class of 1997 girls were a powerhouse powderpuff football team. Lifelong fans of excellence and fun, myself and some of my Brookings Rangers teammates decided they needed their own cheering section.

So we headed down to Goodwill and picked ourselves out some drag outfits. A pink pleather miniskirt may have been purchased, I can neither confirm nor deny. And then, come game time, perhaps buoyed by some liquid cheer [Ed. Note: Check statute of limitations] we showed up to the football game and cheered our team on to victory.

Now look, I am not trying to paint any of us – at least at the time – as shining exemplars of LGBTQ allies. We wouldn’t have recognized the term at all. And there was a certain amount of machismo involved: This is how straight we are. But I also like to think I’ve learned plenty since then. And the salient fact remains: In the fall of 1996, a group of high school boys could dress up in drag and appear at a school function and it bothered nearly no one at all, as far as I can remember.

So what do you think has changed?

The Board of Regents is certainly within its rights to apply oversight over on-campus functions statewide. But do we really think anyone is going to be checking every single event put on by every single group on every single campus? And how would we even decide what is a drag show? Would me and my high school buddies count? Or would we get a pass for being exceptionally homely?

Me, I don’t think any of that is actually going to happen – and I don’t think this is about a drag show at all. I think what has changed are the prevailing political winds in South Dakota. We went from a mostly common-sense, leave-me-alone strain of western right-wing politics when I was a kid to a much nastier group of people who are interested in scoring political points, even if it means doing so by trashing vulnerable children and young adults.

To me, that’s a lot more offensive than most any drag show possibly could be. And I think that nastiness is what has the Regents spooked.

While most of the rest of this country has come a long way since I was in high school on both legal rights for LGBTQ citizens and social acceptance, it feels often like South Dakota – and a few other states we should really rather not be listed alongside – have gone the opposite direction.

Because that’s the difference, right? No one holds a meeting or demands more oversight for straight people dressing up in drag. It’s always aimed at our LGBTQ brothers and sisters. It’s based on a pernicious bit of bigotry that lingers in people’s brains. It counts on people assuming gay and lesbian and trans people are more of a danger to children than straight people are.

That isn’t true. And it’s just plain mean.

Being a teenager or a young adult is tough these days, man. I think only one picture exists of me and my buddies all dressed up to cheer for flag football. I cannot imagine having that entire period of my life documented and presented on social media.

And it surely has to be even tougher to feel like any sort of outsider during those years. And the people in charge of education in this state ought to be thinking of ways to make it easier.

If college students want to host or attend a drag show, they should be free to do so, just as they should be free to hold or attend a Bible study. That’s what that time in your life is for, to experiment, to fail, to learn. But nobody should be clutching their pearls for public relations purposes.

If people want to peddle regressive right-wing politics wrapped in a veneer of religiosity, that’s their business. But they ought to do it on the merits. If people don’t want their children attending a drag show, by all means, they should not take them to one. And if the Board of Regents wants to check the minutes of every student organization, I’m not going to try to stop them.

But they shouldn’t stand on the sidelines – in drag or not – because they’re afraid of political blowback or bigotry. They should get in the game and protect all their students.

– Josh Linehan is the Register’s managing editor and welcomes comments at jlinehan@brookingsregister.com