Groups planning Pride celebrations are either restricting attendance to adults or canceling drag performances — not only in Tennessee, but in Florida and Texas which passed similar laws. Tennessee law sows fear among drag performers before Pride month:
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — Renae Green-Bean had started taking precautions in public even before the Tennessee legislature approved a law in March limiting where “adult cabaret” can be performed.
The judge temporarily blocked the law from going into effect in late March after a Memphis theater group challenged its constitutionality, but its passage has sown fear and confusion among drag performers that is unlikely to dissipate even if the law is overturned. The most vocal critics of drag have characterized it as invariably sexual. But as audiences have broadened, many drag artists say they have adapted their performances, making them appropriate for drag brunches and public events like Pride parades when children might be present.
Soon after, one of the lawmakers, state Rep. Chris Todd, sponsored the bill criminalizing adult cabaret in certain settings. A first offense under the law would be a misdemeanor, punishable by up to nearly a year in jail and a fine of $2,500. Subsequent offenses would be felonies, punishable by up to six years in prison and a fine of up to $3,000.
The crackdown on drag performances belies the deep history of drag artistry in the South, which started long before it became a mainstay in the region’s biggest entertainment districts. In interviews, several performers reflected on how drag has been an antidote to the loneliness and pain they experienced in childhood, as their deeply religious or conservative communities ostracized LGBTQ people. Having watched their own families struggle to understand their sexual or gender identity or their passion for drag, many performers accept that some parents may not be comfortable with their children seeing a drag show, even one with family-friendly routines.
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