Tennessee Adult Entertainment Act

Tennessee Adult Entertainment Act
Tennessee General Assembly
Enacted by	Tennessee Senate
Enacted by	Tennessee House of Representatives
Signed by	Bill Lee
Signed	March 2, 2023
Legislative history
First chamber: Tennessee Senate
Introduced by	Jack Johnson
Passed	February 9, 2023
Voting summary	26 voted for 6 voted against
Second chamber: Tennessee House of Representatives
Member(s) in charge	Chris Todd
Passed	February 23, 2023
Voting summary	74 voted for 19 voted against
Status: Halted

The Tennessee Adult Entertainment Act, also known as the Tennessee drag ban, was an anti-drag bill, which banned public "adult cabaret performance" in public or in front of children in the state of Tennessee. The act was vague in what it considered an "adult cabaret performance" although it defined it as a "male or female impersonators who provide entertainment that appeals to a prurient interest."

It was the first anti-drag act to pass a state legislature in the United States, and was the first to be signed into law. The act was signed on March 2, 2023, by Governor Bill Lee, becoming Public Chapter No. 2 of the Tennessee Code. It was criticized by some people for being overly vague and authoritarian.

It was challenged on March 27, 2023 by Friends of George's, an LGBTQ+ theatre troupe in Memphis, Tennessee.

On April 1, 2023, federal judge Tommy Parker for the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee temporarily blocked the implementation of the act, citing First Amendment concerns. The temporary injunction was changed to a permanent injunction on June 2, 2023.

Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti filed a Notice of Appeal on June 30, 2023.

Bill contents

The Tennessee Adult Entertainment Act bans "topless dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, male or female impersonators in presence of minors."

Public reactions

To TN SB3 / HB9 / Public Chapter No. 2

The bill sparked outrage from the LGBT community.

Local response

When the bill was still being debated, individuals attending the legislative sessions were unsuccessful in getting legislators to define the terms "public space" or "female impersonator". Democrat Heidi Campbell responded to questions about the law after Judge Parker's permanent injunction, saying, "The law is obviously meant just to be hateful because the obscenity statute already covers this," and continuing, "what it’s really done is have a chilling effect on our LGBTQ community and our vibrant drag community."

Spencer Lyst, a 17-year-old Tennessean and member of Franklin Pride's Advisory Board, said in the Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting on April 11, 2023, "Community decency starts with not tearing down our neighbors because we don't agree with them." Lyst continued, pointing out that only one of the members of the council at the BOMA meeting had attended the Franklin Pride festival in 2022, despite the Board in general condemning the event. It has been suggested that the legislation was a direct reaction to the circulation of footage from the 2022 Franklin Pride festival online, pointing to the similar language used in a 2023 attempt to deny a permit to Franklin Pride: "Some members of the town launched a campaign to deny a permit for this year's event, describing it as a threat to children." Nashville's News Channel 5 reported that "a majority of the board wanted to wait for a community decency resolution to come up for a vote before the permit approval." However, it is known that the house's bill sponsor, Chris Todd, introduced the measure in that chamber after he fought a public Pride show in Jackson, TN, claiming that drag is inherently inappropriate for minors.

MTSU political science professor Kent Syler responded to the signing by saying, "It has become a social issues arms race for the GOP in Tennessee." Eater reporter Jaya Saxena reacted on record, saying, "[T]hese are the bill's intended effects: make people reconsider their business plans, worry for their safety, and calculate whether participating in queer life is worth it."

A press release from the ACLU chapter in Tennessee pointed out that the vague nature of the law would allow for government officials to use their own subjective perspective in enforcing it, while also stating, "I want to be abundantly clear: the law that was just signed does not make it illegal to perform in drag in Tennessee. The law bans obscene performances, and drag performances are not inherently obscene."

National response

In response to the law's signing, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated, "Instead of doing anything to address the real issues that are impacting American people, right now you have a governor from Tennessee that has decided to go after drag shows. What sense does that make to go after drag shows? How is that going to help people's lives?"

In an Instagram post, RuPaul called the bill "a classic distraction technique, distracting us away from the real issues that they were voted into office to focus on: jobs, health care, keeping our children safe from harm at their own school."

Juanita More commented, "Bills like this are out of 'The Handmaid's Tale'."

Frankie James Grande tweeted, "This is political theatre designed to encourage vigilante violence against a group of people that’s already incredibly vulnerable."

Hayley Williams responded to the introduction of the bill with, “Once again our state has passed two regressive and unfathomably harmful bills.”

The B-52s released a public statement, proclaiming, "It is unacceptable that in the 21st century, we are witnessing such blatant attempts to undermine the rights of individuals based on their gender identity and sexual orientation."

Cyndi Lauper compared those proposing anti-LGBT bills to Nazis, stating, "Equality for everybody, or nobody’s really equal. This is how Hitler started, you know, just weeding everybody out. And then finally he... You know. I don't think it's a good idea, what they're doing."

Jason Isbell stated, "These bills add up to an attempt to eradicate a valuable part of our community and force good people to live in fear."

Silver Lake, LA drag performer Maebe A. Girl warned that this is likely a precursor to an introduction of these policies on a national level, saying, "It has nothing to do with children. They want LGBTQIA people out of sight, out of mind."

To Judge Parker's decision

Just as the bill and Governor Lee signing it into law drew differing reactions from the public, so too did Judge Parker's decision. While the LGBTQ+ community celebrated the ruling, including at the previously scheduled Franklin Pride Festival, legislators of both political parties weighed in on the injunction.

The bill's sponsor, state Senator Jack Johnson, responded by saying, "We're not going to let the courts dictate what is public policy in the state of Tennessee." State Representative Jason Zachery reacted with, "We will continue to take every step necessary to ensure children in our state are not subjected to public acts of perversion." Attorney General Johnathan Skrmetti asserted that the injunction actually only applies to Shelby County, Tennessee, and the law remains in effect in the remainder of the state. This interpretation of the ruling is a result of Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy being a named defendant in the initial filing. With respect to whether the law remains enforceable in the rest of the state, Governor Lee said he would defer to Skrmetti.

After the injunction, Representative Gloria Johnson remarked, "[I]t's very frustrating because we told them in committee that this bill was unconstitutional. We said it in committee, we said it in meetings, we said it on the house floor. If you read the bill and you read the constitution, you know that this bill is unconstitutional."

See also

• Drag panic
• LGBT rights in Tennessee
• Democratic backsliding in the United States
• Censorship in the United States

External links

• Tennessee Senate Bill 3
• Senate Bill 3: History, details, and related video from the Tennessee legislative sessions
• Tennessee Public Chapter No. 2
• Tennessee Code § 39-17-901 (aka the Obscenity Statute)
• Case 2:23-cv-02163-TLP-tmp Document 91, Judge Parker's ruling on June 02, 2023
• Case Docket, via Free Law Project