A Federal judge in Tennessee temporarily blocked the state's new ban on drag shows, citing First Amendment rights, after the law was challenged by a theater group. Judge Thomas Parker wrote that "If Tennessee wishes to exercise its police power in restricting speech it considers obscene, it must do so within the constraints and framework of the United States Constitution."
The first-of-its-kind law bans "adult cabaret entertainment" on public property or in locations where it could be viewed by a minor. …Friends of George's, Inc., which is an LGBTQ theater group based in Memphis, sued over the law and called it unconstitutional. Its next show begins performances April 14.
"This law threatens to force a theatre troupe into a nightclub, because Tennessee legislators believe they have the right to make their own opinions about drag into law," the theater group argued in a motion for the restraining order. "Plaintiff's other option is to proceed as planned, knowing that the Friends of George's drag performers could face criminal — even felony — charges."
Another great reminder that when conservatives talk about protecting free speech, they are lying through their teeth.
