Tennessee's anti-drag show ban faces another legal challenge

Tennessee’s law placing limits on drag shows is facing a legal challenge by the ACLU after a local district attorney warned Pride organizers that he intends to enforce the new statute despite a federal judge ruling the ban was unconstitutional.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee’s first-in-the-nation law placing strict limits on drag shows is once again facing a legal challenge after a local district attorney warned Pride organizers that he intends to enforce the new statute despite a federal judge ruling the ban was unconstitutional.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee filed the lawsuit late Wednesday on behalf of an organization planning a Blount County Pride festival on Sept. 2. The ACLU is also representing drag performer Flamy Grant, who was hired to perform at the event. The plaintiffs are asking the federal court in eastern Tennessee to block the law from being enforced and declare it illegal.

Earlier this year, a federal judge in Memphis ruled that Tennessee’s so-called anti-drag show law was “unconstitutionally vague and substantially overbroad,” and encouraged “discriminatory enforcement.” The ruling was celebrated by LGBTQ advocates, but quickly sparked questions because the court declared the decision only applied to Shelby County, where Memphis lies.

While some legal experts have speculated that district attorneys across the state wouldn’t enforce a law that a federal judge said violated the First Amendment, others, including state Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, were quick to point out that the law remained in effect outside of Shelby County.

The current tension is coming out of a rural county, some 395 miles east of Memphis, where District Attorney Ryan Desmond sent a letter to Blount County Pride organizers this week announcing that he planned to enforce the state’s anti-drag law.