Tennessee law banning drag shows for minors overturned by appeals court

The Tennessee state legislature put a host of bills into effect that would limit the exposure of minors to gender ideology. Among bans on medical child sex changes and protections for women's sports came a bill that would prevent drag shows, or burlesque for gay male dancers, from being presented to children. 

However, a federal appeals court has ruled that the ban against showing explicit drag content to children is unconstitutional. The bill banned drag shows on public property or in places where minors are able to watch them. The ruling is over the extent to how broad the bill was written.

On Friday, US District Judge Thomas Parker said the law was "both unconstitutionally vague and substantially overbroad." He said that if free speech were to be impeded, it must be specific and clear. "Simply put, no majority of the Supreme Court has held that sexually explicit — but not obscene — speech receives less protection than political, artistic, or scientific speech," Parker explained.

The ban on drag shows for kids was temporarily blocked in April. Parker, on the eve of the law's taking effect, said that it was in violation of the First Amendment. The suit was brought by the Memphis-based LGBTQ+ theater company Friends of George’s. That temporary block has now become preventative to the law going into effect.

The judge said at the time that the language of the bill, which prohibits "adult-oriented performances that are harmful to minors" and classified "male or female impersonators" as adult cabaret performers was too broad.

The Department of Justice took up the case against Tennessee in April, saying that the bans on sex changes for minors were not legal. The ACLU has determined to go after nearly every state that has instituted a prohibition against sex changes for minors.

"No person should be denied access to necessary medical care just because of their transgender status," Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said. "The right to consider your health and medically-approved treatment options with your family and doctors is a right that everyone should have, including transgender children, who are especially vulnerable to serious risks of depression, anxiety and suicide."

Some parents have claimed they will move their families out of state if they cannot continue transitioning their children with the use of harmful puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. In support of LGBTQ families in the state, Madonna announced a concert in Nashville to raise money for trans people in the state. Lizzo also staged a concert in support of drag for kids in Tennessee.

Tennessee has been a hotbed of conflict over legislation protecting minors from both medical sex change and explicit content. Protestors who favor drag and sex changes for kids have stated their intention to arrive armed at a special session of the General Assembly in August.