Drag queens ride on the Rhythm Nation float during the 2024 Pride Parade in downtown Nashville, Tennessee. Photo: Nicole Hester/The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network
Drugs are now illegal in Tennessee, thanks to a recent decision by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, where a three-judge panel ruled that drug performance groups that had won injunctions against the law in lower courts had no legal standing to challenge the law in the first place.
Governor Bill Lee (R) signed the first-of-its-kind law into law in March 2023. The so-called Adult Entertainment Act (AEA) prohibits “male or female impersonators who provide entertainment appealing to the prurient interest” from performing on “public lands” or “places where adult cabaret performances are available to the public.”
Related:
Friends of George’s (FOG), a Memphis-based LGBTQ+ performance group and drag performers, filed suit on March 27, arguing that the law’s language applies to drag performers “virtually anywhere.” The following April, federal Judge Thomas Parker, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, agreed, saying the “vague and overbroad” law encourages “discriminatory enforcement” and “conflicts” with FOG’s First Amendment right to free expression.
Stay connected to your community
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed about issues and events affecting your local and community.
Judge Parker issued a permanent injunction against the law, but Republican officials in the state appealed the decision. However, the appeals court overturned Judge Parker’s decision and allowed the law to go into effect, after two of the three judges said FOG lacked legal standing to challenge the law. The judges ruled that FOG’s performances did not meet the law’s definition of “harmful to minors,” and therefore had not demonstrated a likelihood of being prosecuted under the law.
“FOG’s own evidence demonstrates that their performances have significant artistic value and cannot be classified under the law as harmful to minors,” wrote Judge John B. Nalbandian, a Trump appointee. As such, the court did not rule on the constitutionality of the law, but rather dismissed FOG’s lawsuit on technical grounds.
But the panel’s third judge, Judge Andre B. Mattis, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, wrote in a dissent that the AEA violates the First Amendment because it “imposes content-based restrictions on speech that do not withstand strict scrutiny.” Mattis wrote that the appeals court’s decision could be cited in future cases challenging similar laws in other states, further curbing free speech elsewhere.
One of FOG’s lawyers said they were “disappointed” with the appeals court’s decision and would seek an en banc review by all of the court’s judges, not just the three who ruled against them.
Shortly after the bill passed, Tennessee’s attorney general threatened to prosecute drag performers at a local Pride event, the performers sued the lawyers, and a U.S. District Court judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking the lawyers from carrying out their threat.
Don’t forget to share:
