Tennessee has become the first state to enact a law this year prohibiting sexually explicit drag shows where they may be viewed by children, reacting to concerns about the upswing of drag queens entertaining kids in schools and public libraries.
Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, signed Senate Bill 3 into law Thursday without fanfare after signaling his support earlier, saying it was important to ensure that children were not “potentially exposed to sexualized entertainment, to obscenity.”
The bill bans “adult cabaret entertainment,” including “topless dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, male or female impersonators,” engaging in performances seen as “harmful to minors” on public property or where a non-adult could watch them.
“This bill gives confidence to parents that they can take their kids to a public or private show and will not be blindsided by a sexualized performance,” tweeted the bill’s sponsor, Tennessee Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson.
The law takes effect April 1. A first offense would be a misdemeanor, while subsequent violations would result in felony charges.
Mr. Lee also signed Senate Bill 1, which bans gender-transition drugs and surgeries for minors, over concerns about the potential for serious and irreversible health consequences.
The American Civil Liberties Union vowed to sue, tweeting, “We’ll see you in court.” The bill makes Tennessee the ninth state to prohibit gender-transition procedures for those under 18.
Drag queens reading to kids at library story times have become a regular attraction at some public libraries. The phenomenon “gives kids glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models,” according to Drag Story Hour.
The library-sponsored events prompted a backlash from the conservative publisher Brave Books, which launched a nationwide tour this year featuring Christian actor Kirk Cameron reading his children’s book at public libraries.
While LGBTQ advocates denounced the Tennessee bill, the ACLU said the measure was unlikely to result in a crackdown on drag shows.
“While some lawmakers have expressed their intent to ban all drag shows in Tennessee, the legal definition for ’harmful to minors’ in Tennessee is very narrow and only covers extreme sexual or violent content with no artistic value,” said the ACLU in a Thursday statement. “Drag performances do not inherently fall into this category and are protected by the First Amendment.”
At the same time, ACLU of Tennessee Legal Director Stella Yarbrough said she feared that the law would be abused “to censor people based on their own subjective viewpoints of what they deem appropriate, chilling protected free speech and sending a message to LGBTQ Tennesseans that they are not welcome in our state.”
Tennessee may be the first to act, but more than a dozen other states are considering similar bills restricting children’s exposure to drag shows.
Mr. Lee was mocked by activists this past week after a Reddit user posted a 1977 high school yearbook photo of him and other students dressed in opposite-sex clothing for a powder puff football game.
Mr. Lee called it “ridiculous” to conflate “something like that to sexualized entertainment in front of children.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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