A federal judge has struck a blow to efforts in U.S. states to control LGBTQ behavior by ruling that Tennessee’s statute limiting drag performances in public or where children were present was unconstitutional.
At the forefront of a Republican-led drive to prohibit drag in at least 15 states in recent months is Tennessee, where Governor Bill Lee signed a bill in February that attempted to restrict drag performances.
On Friday, June 02 night, U.S. District Judge Thomas Parker ruled that the statute was “both unconstitutionally vague and substantially overbroad.” Parker was appointed to the bench by former Republican President Donald Trump. According to Parker’s 70-page opinion, the First Amendment requires speech regulations to be minimal in scope and well-defined.
You can see a video of a federal judge declaring Tennessee drag restriction law unconstitutional-
Parker noted in the verdict, “Simply put, no majority of the Supreme Court has held that s*xually explicit — but not obscene — speech receives less protection than political, artistic, or scientific speech.” Repeat offenders risked prison terms of up to six years, while first-time offenders faced fines and up to a year in jail.
More than 500 measures restricting the rights of gay and transgender persons in areas ranging from education to access to health care have been submitted by Republicans in state legislatures across the country in the run-up to the 2024 elections. According to the Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy group, at least 48 of them have died.
On March 31, the day before the law was to take effect, Parker temporarily delayed it in a lawsuit filed by the Memphis LGBTQ theater group Friends of George’s. Parker’s choice was applauded by the LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD. “This ruling is a turning point, and we will not go back,” GLAAD declared in a press release.
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“Every anti-LGBTQ elected official is on notice that these baseless laws will not stand and that our constitutional freedom of speech and expression protects everyone and propels our culture forward,” the group said.
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