Occasionally, the US court system surprises you. Last Friday, Trump-appointed federal judge Thomas Parker ruled that Tennessee’s anti-drag law was unconstitutional, just as Pride Month was kicking off.
Parker’s decision follows a temporary block he’d placed on the law in March, after Tennessee earned the dubious distinction of being the first state to pass an outright ban on drag performances in public spaces where minors might be present.
(Technically the law, which stipulates that a first offence is a misdemeanour and a second offence is a felony, does not contain the word “drag”. It simply bans “adult cabaret performances” of a “prurient” nature from being held in any space where they might be seen by minors, and conveniently defines performances that involve “male or female impersonators” as “adult cabaret performances”.)
