Last year Tennessee was debating a bill that failed to include a minimum age limit for marriage. Child brides are evidently fine for the upstanding legislators the self-appointed moral guardians of the state. However, these are the same lawmakers who this week actually passed a bill banning drag shows in public !
This law would make Tennessee the first
state to ban public drag, which could also
affect LGBTQ+ pride celebrations and
transgender people who are in shows
of any kind.
In Tennessee’s bill, a first offense would be treated as a misdemeanor, but a second offense would be treated as a felony. ……. And it gets worse……
Erin Reed, a queer legislative researcher and transgender rights activist, said the language of the bill is very broad and doesn’t differentiate between trans people and drag performers. The bill says “male and female impersonators” cannot “provide entertainment that appeals to prurient interest.”
“Drag queen story hours will no longer be rushed by proud boys, but cops,” Reed said on Twitter.
This very sadly is just the tip of the iceberg as there are currently 20 bills in 15 US states aimed at drag queen
performances
P.S. If you are thinking of visiting (or even living in Tennessee….!!!!!) then Queerguru’s legal beagles tell us about other BIG NO-NOs
In Oneida, Tennessee, it is illegal for a woman to call a man up on the phone and ask him out on a date
Feel free to move in with your girlfriends, ladies – but not too many of them. If eight or more women are living together in Tennessee, the house is considered a brothel
It’s actually a misdemeanor to tattoo a minor in Tennessee, but marrying them is still OK
Because holding hands is considered a gateway to sexual activity, it is illegal to do so on school grounds.
It is illegal to post images online if they are meant to cause emotional distress unless there is a legitimate purpose to do so (?)
Sharing your Netflix account password is an illegal thing in Tennessee.
it is illegal to drive in Tennessee if you are asleep (no, we are not making any of it up…)
It’s illegal to carry an ice cream cone in your back pocket in Tennessee. (this was supposedly an effective method of stealing a horse, who would be tempted by the sweet treat. Incidentally, it is still technically on the books that you can be hanged for horse theft in Tennessee, so you probably don’t want to be stealing any horses.)
BUT of course you can conceal carry or open carry a handgun in the state of Tennessee, without the requirement of a state-issued gun license.
