Tennessee Legislature Takes Huge Step to Protect Kids from Lewd Drag Queen Performances

The Tennessee legislature just took a major step forward in the culture war with SB 0003. That bill has now been passed by both the Tennessee House and Senate and is headed to the desk of Gov. Bill Lee. It would take action to stop the insanity that is performing lewd drag performances in front of children.

The bill’s summary is quite clear about what the legislators aim to prevent, providing that (emphasis ours):

This bill creates an offense for a person who engages in an 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. The bill defines an “adult cabaret performance” to mean 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.

A first violation of this offense is a Class A misdemeanor, and a second or subsequent violation of this offense is a Class E felony.

The bill also expressly provides that communities cannot enact their own legislation to preempt this bill, thus preventing leftist communities that might want to allow drag performers to conduct their shows in front of kids from doing so. It does so by providing that:

(1) Preempts an ordinance, regulation, restriction, or license that was lawfully adopted or issued by a political subdivision prior to July 1, 2023, that is in conflict with this bill; and

(2) Prevents or preempts a political subdivision from enacting and enforcing in the future other ordinances, regulations, restrictions, or licenses that are in conflict with this bill.

State Rep. Chris Todd, a Republican, is the one who filed the bill. Describing it to The Tennessean, he said “this is a common sense child-safety bill.” The Tennessean also notes that Todd “filed the legislation after he fought a public Pride drag show in Jackson, Tennessee. Todd at the time called the drag show ‘child abuse.’”

Tennessee’s Senate Majority Leader, Jack Johnson, commented on the bill as well. Posting about it on Twitter, he said “Once again, Tennessee leads the nation. We’re committed to ensuring Tennessee is the safest place to raise your family. This is a huge win for our state, and we’ll continue working to protect our kids.” Sen. Johnson also said “The intent of the legislation is just to simply say that you cannot have sexually explicit entertainment … in a public venue where kids might be present.”

Johnson also said, in a statement to Reuters, that the measure would give “confidence to parents that they can take their kids to a public or private show and will not be blindsided by a sexualized performance.”

The bill comes alongside the Tennessee legislature’s recent action to stop the transing of kids. Together, the bills show that the deeply red state’s legislature is waking up to what its voters want and is getting more serious about fighting culture war battles.