Tennessee’s first law in the nation, designed to impose strict limits on drag shows, is unconstitutional, a federal judge says.

The law is both unconstitutionally vague and substantially too broad and encourages discriminatory enforcement, according to a late Friday ruling by US District Judge Thomas Parker, who was appointed by the former president.

Donald

Trump.

There is no question that obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment. But there is a difference between material that is colloquially obscene and material that is legally obscene, Parker said.

Simply put, no Supreme Court majority has ruled that sexually explicit but not obscene language receives less protection than political, artistic or scientific language, he said.

The law would have banned adult cabaret shows from public property or anywhere minors might be present. Performers who broke the law risked being charged with a felony or a felony for recidivism.

Parker used the example of a female performer wearing an Elvis Presley costume imitating the iconic musician who under drag law was at risk of being punished for being considered a male impersonator.

Friends of Georges, a Memphis-based LGBTQ+ theater company, filed a complaint in March saying the law would be negative

affect impact

because they produce drag-oriented performances, comedy skits and plays with no age restrictions.

This victory represents a triumph over hate, the theater company said in a statement on Saturday, adding that the verdict reaffirmed their

for 1

st Edit rights as artists.

“Like the countless battles the LGBTQ+ community has faced over the decades, our collective success depends on everyone speaking up and taking a stand against bigotry,” the group said.

Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, a Republican who was one of the bill’s main sponsors, said he was disappointed with the ruling.

Unfortunately, this ruling is a victory for those who advocate exposing children to sexual entertainment, Johnson said, adding that he hoped

considerate General Jonathan

Skrmetti is appealing the mind-boggling ruling.

Initially, the complaint mentioned the Republican government. Bill Lee,

Attorney General Jonathan

Skrmetti and Shelby County Dist.

dir

Att

ears

j. Gen.

eral

Steven Mulroy as defendants, but the plaintiffs later agreed to fire the governor and chief legal officer, although Skrmetti continued to represent Mulroy in this case.

A spokesperson for both Skrmetti and Mulroy did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Parker’s ruling on Saturday.

The Republican-dominated Tennessee legislature introduced the anti-drag bill earlier this year, with several GOP members pointing to drag performances in their hometowns as reasons why it was necessary to prevent such performances from happening in public or where children can see them.

However, the actual word towing does not appear in the statute. Instead, lawmakers changed the state’s definition of adult cabaret to include adult-oriented performances that are harmful to minors. In addition, male or female impersonators were classified as a form of adult cabaret similar to strippers or topless dancers.

The governor quickly signed his signature to the statute, and it was to go into effect on April 1. To date, however, the law has never been enforced because the federal judge sided with the group challenging the statute in March and temporarily blocked the law. law.

Parker also cited how the bill’s sponsor, Republican state Representative Chris Todd, had previously helped lead an effort to block a drag show in his district before introducing the drag ban proposal. Todd later confirmed that he had not seen the performance, but still took legal action to stop the show and that the event was held indoors with an age restriction.

This incident was one of many reasons to believe that the anti-drag law was aimed at placing possible blocks on drag shows regardless of their potential harm to minors,” Parker wrote.

The drag bill marks the second major bill targeting LGBTQ+ people to be approved by lawmakers in Tennessee this year. Lee signed into law GOP-backed legislation that bans most gender-affirming care, which is being challenged in court.