Tennessee has been a debacle these past months with bans on drag queen performances, labeling them as burlesque performers, and then of course having a mass shooting because of constant failure to produce any gun regulation laws.
Guns will be an issue most likely forever in the south, but there is some hope that the drag queen ban may not come law, well, just yet.
And the delay is all because of a Trump-appointed federal judge looking at the constitutionality of the discriminatory Tennessee law.
Last month, Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed the drag ban law into effect along with a bill banning gender-affirming care for youth. There were no bumps in the road legally until someone legally steps forward to complain.
Credit must be given to Friends of George’s, a Memphis-based nonprofit theater company that uses drag in many of their performances. Without Friends suing the state this past week, the halt would not have even being considered.
What could a theater group bring up that would get the attention of a Trump-appointed judge? Well it should get the attention of any judge, but we are fortunate that this judge enjoys constitutional law for all.
U.S. District Court Judge Thomas L. Parker, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, handed down a 14 page ruling and a 14-day temporary restraining order only hours before the law was to go into effect. The order is actually a great read and easy to understand and you can go read it for yourself here. We will highlight the important parts below.
TRO – Temporary Restraining Order. We will take it! And what will happen in the next 14 days? Well, we the sane people will need to prove that the obscenity laws that already exist in Tennessee are not duplicated and are not targeting a certain group for their specific speech.
The second paragraph is crucial in the case as it asks the question – did the state enact the new law because they disagreed with a certain message or messenger. We all know that is a fact, the state went to war on drag performances. It would be like a liberal state banning any protests of pro-choice individuals in public because they are talking about a sensitive matter.
Winning the TRO is a great thing, but the fight is definitely not done. The next step is to see how the hearing goes on April 13th, one day before the next Friends of George’s performance.
Yes, they know they have not won yet, but the Friends of George’s has released this statement:
We wish the Friends of George’s the best of luck and thank them for taking that huge legal step in moving against the state of Tennessee. It’s going to take a legal battle, not thoughts and prayers from our side either to make the change.