Tag: Tennessee drag shows

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Supreme Court Denies Petition To Hear Lawsuit On Drag Ban

Friends Of George's Cast at their show Drag Rocks in 2023 Photo Credit: Friends of George's

The United States Supreme Court will not be hearing the lawsuit filed by Memphis theater group, Friends of George’s, regarding the state’s ban on drag performances.

According to the Supreme Court website, a petition for the court to hear the case was denied on Monday.

In September, the United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to hear the suit after all judges in the court received a petition to review it as a full court.

Prior to this decision, the same court reversed the U.S. District Court of the Western District’s decision to halt the enforcement of the controversial law. According to Friends of George’s the court decided in a 2-to-1 ruling that they lacked standing, which led to the lawsuit being dismissed.

Judge Andre Mathis of the Sixth Circuit Court wrote in his dissent that part of Tennessee’s Adult Entertainment Act (AEA) was an “unconstitutional content-based restriction on free speech.”

The law stated that these “adult cabaret performances” were “harmful to minors.” It made “adult cabaret performances” on public property or “in a location where the adult cabaret performance could be viewed by a person who is not an adult” a criminal offense.

Mathis said that the theater group had the right to sue since the law could stop them from doing their shows. However, the Tennessee Attorney General’s office argued that since the company hadn’t been harmed by the law, they couldn’t sue.

Chris Sanders of the Tennessee Equality Project (TEP) called the ruling “very sad” in a post on Facebook, and noted that other organizations could  still sue on similar grounds.

“We are so grateful to Friends of George’s and their attorneys for all their work in defending our community,” Sanders said. “In the future, however, there could be other suits with other plaintiffs and the courts may decide they have standing to sue, which was the issue here. “

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti called the decision a “big win for Tennessee, adding that they will “continue to defend Tennessee’s law and children. … Free speech is a sacred American value, but the First Amendment does not require Tennessee to allow sexually explicit performances in front of children,” Skrmetti said.

Friends of George’s released the following statement:

“On February 24, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear our case, allowing Tennessee’s Adult Entertainment Act to stand. But this ruling does not define us. Friends of George’s Theatre Company will continue exercising our First Amendment right to bring joyful, LGBTQ+ inclusive art into our community while raising thousands for charities that uphold dignity and respect for all.

We extend our deepest gratitude to our legal team for their valiant effort in representing us over the past two years. We are forever grateful for their advocacy, dedication and unwavering belief in our constitutional right to free expression.”

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Music Video Monday: “Green Ribbon” by Louise Page

Wearing a green ribbon can mean a lot of things, or nothing at all. That’s part of the mystery at the heart of Louise Page’s new music video, where the core message is “I want to see you dance the way you dance in your kitchen,” and the stylish art direction assures us that, in that part of the house, green pairs well with pink.

For many, the green ribbon signifies mental health awareness, and there’s a primal call for sanity in the way Page calls out the kitchen boogie as an integral part of mental hygiene. But maybe that’s reading too much into a song that just wants to make you dance.

To that end, Page musters the full power of her band, complete with violin and horns, to make the most danceable track she can. And the video captures that energy perfectly, tacking back and forth between that kitchen and a sweaty, stomping club scene, where drag queens Moth Moth Moth and Baby Mas, plus dancer Felicity Fox, match the singer’s moves strut for strut, and even producer/engineer Boo Mitchell gets down on the dance floor.

As Page says in her artist’s statement, she was “trying to write a song that was both a dance and a celebration, but also acknowledging how absolutely bat shit insanely difficult it has felt to be a functioning human being in a dysfunctional, often dangerous world. Joy can be a revolution. You can dance for the dead. That’s what this song celebrates to me.”

It’s a perfect way to bring out the power of Page’s crack combo. “Huge shoutout to my band — Annalisabeth Craig, Jawaun Crawford, Gunter Gaupp, and Michael Todd — for playing the hell out of this song and for riding with me. Huge shoutout to my friend Calvin Lauber for mastering the song, and Boo Mitchell for recording, producing, and believing in it!”

Director Laura Jean Hocking also hails the group effort that made such a wild party of a video possible. “I am credited as director on this video,” she says, “but so many people were vital in making these visual worlds come to life — the fabulous art direction team of Sallie Sabbatini/Erica Qualy/Annalisabeth Craig, Robbie Eubanks’ beautiful hair & makeup, Chad Barton’s excellent lighting and color timing, Sarah Fleming’s stellar camerawork — the list goes on. Being able to showcase Moth Moth Moth and Baby Mas was important to me, with the government trying to enact laws to ban drag performances. I wanted them to convey the message, ‘You cannot make our art form a crime. We’re not going away.’ And any time Louise calls me to do a music video, the answer is yes. She’s a great collaborator and a joy to work with.”

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Legislation Proposes Making Public Drag Shows A Criminal Offense In Tennessee

Credit: state of Tennessee

Legislation was recently filed by Tennessee Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson that could potentially make public drag shows in Tennessee a crime.

Jackson proposed to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 7, Chapter 51, Part 14. This new amendment would prohibit drag performances on public property and other public spaces.

Johnson has proposed that new language be added to Section 7-51-1401 that defines “adult cabaret performance” as “ a performance in a location other than an adult cabaret that features topless dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, male or female impersonators who provide entertainment that appeals to a prurient interest, or similar entertainers, regardless of whether or not performed for consideration”

The bill also goes on to make performing in “adult cabaret performance” on public property or “in a location where the adult cabaret performance could be viewed by a person who is not an adult” a Class A misdemeanor. Repeat offenders face a Class E felony.

This legislation also prevents the government from “enacting and enforcing in the future other ordinances, regulations, restrictions or licenses.”

If passed, this law would seem to apply to drag shows in the state of Tennessee.

Reddit user u/rekniht01 posted this news and said “… they are trying to couch their anti-drag intentions in legalese and the vague concept of ‘prurient.’”

The post goes on to state that “drag is not necessarily sexual in nature,” and makes note that many of the nuances and concepts that are present in drag shows, also show up in “theatre performance (even in K-12 schools,) music performances, comedy performances, etc.”

Drag shows in Tennessee have been at the center of controversy in recent months, most recently in Memphis, as what was advertised as a “family-friendly drag show,” at the Museum of Science and History was canceled after a group of Proud Boys showed up at the event. 

Jackson Sun reporter Angele Latham reported in October 2022, that a Jackson Pride drag show, which was also initially advertised as “family-friendly” and slated to be held at a local park, was limited to participants 18 and older, after weeks of meeting with lawmakers.

The legislature does not reconvene until January. If passed, the law would take effect in July 2023.