In early March, the Republican governor of this southeastern state had signed a text largely limiting drag queen shows in public places.
A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the ban on drag queen performances in public places in Tennessee, decreed by the governor of this American state, local media report, as CBS.
Tennessee was the first American state to legislate, in early March, against drag queen shows in the name, according to local authorities, of protecting children from shows deemed too sexualized.
Judge Thomas Parker’s decision came hours before the law was enforced. An LBGT+ theater company had taken legal action against the state to challenge the text.
A law that is too vague
According to the judge, the state, governed by Republican Bill Lee, failed to provide enough arguments to convince of the need for such a law. Justice also considered that the law was too vague, the word “drag” not appearing in the initial text, nor the list of cabarets where minors could attend a show.
“Does a citizen’s private residence count? What about camping in a national park?”, wrote the judge, considering that this too vague character “comes up against the constraints of the First Amendment” of the Constitution, which defends freedom of expression.
Drag shows are one of the newest battlegrounds in what is known in the United States as the “culture wars”: debates fueled by elected conservatives and the religious right, largely revolving around the gender, sexuality and identity.
After the decision of the governor of Tennessee, the White House had castigated a “ridiculous” and “dangerous” text.
