During a Monday episode of MSNBC’s The ReidOut, host Joy Reid said Tennessee’s legislation seeking to restrict drag performances in the vicinity of children was limiting the First Amendment.
Reid criticized individuals opposing gun control efforts following Monday’s shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, claiming “even gun owners overwhelmingly want stronger gun laws” before criticizing state legislators’ attempts to restrict drag performances in the vicinity of minors.
“They now are racing to enact these First Amendment-limiting laws to limit things like drag shows,” Reid said, citing “rampant book banning” in Tennessee and Florida. “They’re essentially saying ‘it’s too dangerous to allow children to be exposed to a drag show.’ A drag queen is dangerous to children. These books are dangerous to children.”
“But when it comes to guns, they’re like, ‘No, put more guns where children are,'” she continued. “It is an irony that’s hard to get away from during this time of moral panic over books, history, and drag shows.”
.@JoyAnnReid: "Tenn., which ironically is the Scopes Monkey Trial state … They now are racing to enact these 1st Amendment-limiting laws to limit things like drag shows. You have rampant book banning. I think Tenn. might be the most book banning state, even more than Fla." pic.twitter.com/icyK3sTwJA
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) March 27, 2023
Tennessee’s H.B. 9, which passed the state house legislature last week, “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,” according to the bill’s summary.
The bill defines “adult cabaret performances” as “adult-oriented performances that are harmful to minors … that feature topless dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, male or female impersonators, or similar entertainers.”
An “entertainer” is further defined as “a person who provides Entertainment within an adult-oriented establishment, regardless of whether a fee is charged or accepted for entertainment and regardless of whether entertainment is provided as an employee, escort … or an independent contractor” and engages in “a performance of actual or simulated specified sexual activities, including removal of articles of clothing or appearing unclothed, regardless of whether a fee is charged or accepted for the performance and regardless of whether the performance is provided as an employee or an independent contractor.”
The bill seeks to enact an offense for persons performing aforementioned adult cabaret performances on public property or in a location where the adult performance can be viewed by a minor. Initial violation of the proposed bill would result in a Class A misdemeanor while subsequent violations are labeled as a Class E felony.
