Tennessee is on track to become not only the first US state to ban drag shows but also the latest to ban healthcare for trans youth. House Republicans passed joint anti-LGBTQ+ legislation yesterday which, if signed by the governor, would make Tennessee the first state to criminalize drag shows.
Plunging the southern state into the dark ages, Senate Bill 3 will prevent ‘adult-oriented businesses’ from operating within 1,000 feet of public property such as schools, parks or places of worship.
According to a report from METRO, Legislators ensured this applies to LGBTQ+ events and spaces by banning drag performances, which they vaguely define as ‘male or female impersonators’.
A summary of the bill, categorized under ‘Obscenity and Pornography’, says: ‘As introduced, creates an offence for a person who engages in an adult cabaret performance on public property or in a location where the adult cabaret performance could be viewed by a person who is not an adult.’
It also bans, as the bill puts it, ‘topless dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers (and) strippers … who provide adult entertainment that appeals to a prurient interest’. This means all so-called ‘adult-oriented’ entertainment will only be allowed to operate in 18+ venues.
A first offence would be classed as a misdemeanor crime, and a second offence a felony carrying a sentence of up to a year in prison. The drag ban was proposed by Republican State Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson in November.
