Tennessee is on course to become not just the first US state to outlaw drag events, but also the most recent to outlaw transgender healthcare.
Yesterday, House Republicans passed a combined anti-LGBTQ+ bill that, if signed by the governor, will make Tennessee the first state to criminalize drag shows.
Senate Bill 3, which would send the southern state back in time, would prohibit ‘adult-oriented companies’ from operating within 1,000 feet of public property such as schools, parks, or places of worship.
Legislators ensured this applies to LGBTQ+ events and locations by banning drag acts, which they vaguely define as ‘male or female impersonators’.
‘It provides parents confidence that they may take their children to a public or private show and will not be surprised by a sexualized performance,’ he said in a statement.
Johnson’s bill was approved by the Senate by a vote of 26-6 earlier this month and by the House by a vote of 74-19 yesterday.
The plan will now be sent back to the Senate for procedural approval before being sent to Republican Governor Bill Lee’s desk for final approval.
Lee has a history of passing anti-drag legislation
Republican Rep. Chris Todd, who also sponsored the anti-transgender healthcare measure, said he was motivated to write the drag ban to prevent a local ‘family-friendly’ drag show from taking place in a park.
Jackson Pride went to court with Congressman Todd last year after the city’s Pride organizers planned to conduct a family-friendly drag show during the city’s third annual event, which was originally scheduled to take place in Conger Park.
Congressman Todd claimed the show teaching youngsters about kindness and diversity would have amounted to ‘child abuse’ and that his law is a ‘common-sense, child safety bill’.
Together with the drag prohibition, House Bill 9 prohibits doctors from delivering gender-affirming healthcare to transgender youth, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy.
Every major medical organization in the United States has endorsed requests for gender-affirming care for transgender children.
Researchers discovered that trans youth that received hormone therapy were happier
According to one study, trans youth who have access to gender-affirming medical therapies are less likely to experience despair, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts.
Researchers discovered that transgender young individuals who could receive hormone therapy were happier, more content with their life, and more confident.
Tennessee has passed more anti-LGBTQ+ legislation than any other state in the US since 2015.
Hence the passage of the two bills came as no surprise to environmentalists, who had urged the governor to reject the ‘destructive’ legislation.
‘Transgender folks and drag performers dancing in a Pride parade might be considered criminal,’ legislative researcher Erin Reed tweeted.
‘Police in Tennessee could start arresting people at pride celebrations for being “male or female impersonators” dancing down the street, as so many of us have seen and participated in.’
‘These extremist lawmakers have intentionally made life harder and more dangerous for trans kids,’ said Cathryn Oakley, state legislative director, and senior counsel at the HumanRightsCampaign.
‘Politicians have no business deciding these personal matters by enforcing blanket bans that defy professional guidance from every major medical and mental health association in the country,’ said Suffredini, vice president of advocacy and government affairs at Trevor Project, a national LGBTQ+ youth suicide-prevention group.
Both proposals are part of a wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation proposed by Republicans in recent years.
More than 340 legislation have been introduced in the 2023 legislative session to limit the sports teams, toilets, and healthcare options available to transgender youth.
Other bills would require teachers to misgender and deadname trans kids, as well as out them to their families.
According to a 2022 analysis by the Williams Center at UCLA School of Law, at least 58,200 trans children were at risk of losing access to gender-affirming healthcare owing to GOP-led efforts to outlaw such treatments.
Drag events have turned into a new battleground for Right-wing pandits
Conservatives and right-wing pundits have turned to drag events in particular as a new battleground.
According to legislative monitors, there are now at least 26 proposed bills that target drag around the country.
Drag events, ranging from brunches to children’s reading sessions, have also been threatened with violence in locations across the United States in recent years.
The Proud Boys, a violent far-right nationalist group, has disrupted Drag Queen Story Hour sessions in libraries in front of children.
Far-right groups have similarly demonstrated against Sab Samuel’s Drag Queen Story Hour UK as Aida H Dee’s events in the United Kingdom.
‘Drag Queen Story Hour is more than just a piece of entertainment; it’s gender-affirming care and an opportunity for LGBTQ kids to gain a role model they’ve been denied for years!’ Samuel explained to Metro.co.uk.
‘Drag Queen Story Time’ The UK is aware that the USA has no control over UK legislation, but it does not mean that these laws will not find their way into the UK, especially with the current government.
‘I predict the same legislation coming to the UK if the administration we have now remains in power for a long time.’