The fate of Tennessee’s drag restrictions is now in the hands of a federal appeals court. A federal district judge in East Tennessee has put a legal challenge to the state law on hold until the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issues a final ruling on whether the restrictions are unconstitutional.
Judge Ronnie Greer made the decision Thursday, after temporarily blocking the law from being enforced during Blount County’s Pride festival last weekend.
A federal judge in West Tennessee had struck down the restrictions on drag in public spaces in early June, but Tennessee’s attorney general has since appealed to the Sixth Circuit. AG Jonathan Skrmetti has also argued that the judge’s ruling only applies to Memphis and Shelby County because Memphis DA Steven Mulroy was the only named defendant on the law’s first legal challenge.
The second lawsuit was filed last week in response to a letter from an East Tennessee district attorney. In it, Blount County DA Ryan Desmond cited AG Skrmetti, warning Pride organizers that his office would prosecute those who violated the law.
The three-judge panel is also expected to issue a ruling on whether trans youth in Tennessee will be able to continue gender-affirming care while a lawsuit against the ban makes its way through the courts.
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