Tennessee lawmakers Thursday celebrated the preservation of the state’s so-called drag ban. The U.S. Supreme Court this week refused to hear a legal challenge to the law, leaving in place a lower court’s ruling which found plaintiffs didn’t have standing to sue.
“A big U.S. Supreme Court decision, another one that has gone our way,” Rep. William Lamberth, R-Portland, said. “I hope we’re going to have a whole lot more to come.”
LGBTQ advocates also see the ruling as a win.
Both Tennessee’s ACLU and the state’s attorney general have said that the Adult Entertainment Act is not a drag ban. Its language instead references “adult cabaret” with no “artistic” value.
An appeals court found that Friends of George’s, an LGBTQ theater troupe in Memphis, did not have grounds to challenge the AEA because its’ performances wouldn’t be subject to the law.
ACLU of Tennessee’s Legal Director Stella Yarbrough told WPLN News that the law’s passage had a chilling effect on the state’s drag performers and Pride organizers, but that they don’t have to fear prosecution.
“Friends of George’s has very sexual content in its drag shows, and even that didn’t fall within the regulation of the Adult Entertainment Act,” Yarbrough said. “So, other drag performers who have similarly sexual shows can feel comfort in knowing that if Friends of George’s performances are not … stopped by the Adult Entertainment Act, then other drag performances should not be.”
Yarbrough represents other plaintiffs in a separate challenge to the law. That lawsuit in East Tennessee is still ongoing.
The ACLU sued on behalf of Blount County Pride, when its district attorney warned local Pride organizers that he would be prosecuting anyone found in violation of the law during a 2023 Pride festival. A federal judge there has temporarily blocked the AEA.
Last month, plaintiffs in the case amended their complaint to include allegations of retaliatory behavior from Blount County DA Ryan Desmond and Maryville Police Chief Tony Crisp. They allege that Crisp had initially threatened to withdraw police security for the event, before being “instructed to be present,” according to court documents.
“Officers did not actually provide meaningful security for an event that became the site of protests,” the amended complaint reads.
In a filing last week, attorneys for Desmond wrote that the plaintiffs “have no alleged facts showing that the conduct will reoccur. None. Desmond has issued no threats regarding future performances.”
SCOTUS’s decision will likely impact how, or if, that case goes forward.
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