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U.S. District Court Judge Thomas L. Parker declared Tennessee’s anti-drag Adult Entertainment Act (AEA) to be unconstitutional on Friday, finding that it violates freedom of speech protections.
In hisruling, Parker, 60, said that the law, which Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed back in March, is both “unconstitutionally vague and substantially overbroad.”
“The AEA’s ‘harmful to minors’ standard applies to minors of all ages, so it fails to provide fair notice of what is prohibited, and it encourages discriminatory enforcement,” he continued. “The AEA is substantially over-broad because it applies to public property or ‘anywhere’ a minor could be present.”
Parker added the anti-drag law is a “content- and viewpoint-based restriction on speech."
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Rainbow Flag flies in the Castro.Norberto Cuenca/Getty Images
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Lee previously signed the bill into law restricting “adult cabaret performances” — which it defined to include “topless dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers” and “male or female impersonators.”
A federal judge thentemporarily blockedthe bill — just hours before it was slated to go into effect — after a pro-LGBTQ+ group filed a lawsuit claiming the statute violates the First Amendment.
“The law prohibits a drag performer wearing a crop top and mini skirt from dancing where minors might see it, but does not prohibit a Tennessee Titans cheerleader wearing an identical outfit from performing the exact same dance in front of children,” the suit read.
“The bill specifically protects children from obscene, sexualized entertainment, and any attempt to conflate this serious issue with lighthearted school traditions is dishonest and disrespectful to Tennessee families,” Lee’s press secretary Jade Byerstold various outlets.
LGBTQ advocates have argued that the bill would go much further than limiting “obscene” entertainment and could impact things like Drag Queen Story Hour events at local libraries, which have been targeted across the country in recent months.
Drag Queen Story Houris an organization with chapters across the U.S., and involves “drag queens reading stories to children in libraries, schools, and bookstores.” According to the organization’s website, “DQSH captures the imagination and play of the gender fluidity of childhood and gives kids glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models.”
source: people.com
