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Friday, March 10, 2023
Legal expert: Tennessee’s law limiting drag performances likely violates the First Amendment
Salon.com: On March 2, 2023, Tennessee became the first state to enact a law restricting drag performances.
This law is part of a larger push by Republican lawmakers in numerous states to restrict or eliminate events like drag shows and drag story hours.
3 comments:
Rayya Gracy
said...
To limit and prohibit drag performances is a drastic display of homophobia. People who support such actions are actively trying to push false notion’s regarding drag performances by utilizing children as a means to support their accusations. I am truly so confused why drag is being targeted are their not other issues that the government needs to worry about? Why target the drag community when they are harmless and are just expressing themselves through their art form. Which has been around for decades! Drag performances are not new and I have grown up with such performances within many movies that I’ve watched that replicate drag. Additionally, this law doesn’t “likely” violate the first amendment. It does. Drag is a means of freedom of expression, vocalization and a means to be seen and represented to the world. Their have been a series of homophobic laws being put into place and it is once again a representation of this country’s blatant display of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric.
The impact of such laws on the LGBTQ+ community cannot be overstated. Drag has long been a form of artistic expression for queer and trans people, and limiting their ability to perform in this way is a direct attack on their identity and culture. It also has wider implications for the broader struggle for LGBTQ+ rights, as it sends a message that their existence and expression is not welcome in certain spaces.
At the same time, it is important to recognize the context in which this law was passed. Many opponents of drag performances argue that they are inappropriate for certain audiences, particularly children. While such arguments are often rooted in prejudice and fear, it is important to acknowledge the concerns of those who feel uncomfortable with drag performances and seek to find ways to address those concerns without infringing on the rights of performers.
Ultimately, it is crucial that we defend the rights of all individuals to express themselves freely, particularly those who have historically been marginalized and oppressed.
It's really upsetting as a trans person to see the rights to exist in America be stripped away so easily within multiple states' legislations. There has been such a long fight for the right to exist and get adequate care for such a long time now, and that fact that we are now going backwards in terms of individual rights in America is, if anything, a sign that the republican party is willing to push any kind of legislation to support their agenda no matter who it hurts to get there. In a lot of cases, drag is not even performed by trans people, and yet it is still affected by the bullshit bills legislatures pull out of left field. We as a state are lucky that we ended up going blue this past election, because without that, it is likely that we would have seen bills move forward in Pennsylvania by now too.
3 comments:
To limit and prohibit drag performances is a drastic display of homophobia. People who support such actions are actively trying to push false notion’s regarding drag performances by utilizing children as a means to support their accusations. I am truly so confused why drag is being targeted are their not other issues that the government needs to worry about? Why target the drag community when they are harmless and are just expressing themselves through their art form. Which has been around for decades! Drag performances are not new and I have grown up with such performances within many movies that I’ve watched that replicate drag. Additionally, this law doesn’t “likely” violate the first amendment. It does. Drag is a means of freedom of expression, vocalization and a means to be seen and represented to the world. Their have been a series of homophobic laws being put into place and it is once again a representation of this country’s blatant display of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric.
The impact of such laws on the LGBTQ+ community cannot be overstated. Drag has long been a form of artistic expression for queer and trans people, and limiting their ability to perform in this way is a direct attack on their identity and culture. It also has wider implications for the broader struggle for LGBTQ+ rights, as it sends a message that their existence and expression is not welcome in certain spaces.
At the same time, it is important to recognize the context in which this law was passed. Many opponents of drag performances argue that they are inappropriate for certain audiences, particularly children. While such arguments are often rooted in prejudice and fear, it is important to acknowledge the concerns of those who feel uncomfortable with drag performances and seek to find ways to address those concerns without infringing on the rights of performers.
Ultimately, it is crucial that we defend the rights of all individuals to express themselves freely, particularly those who have historically been marginalized and oppressed.
It's really upsetting as a trans person to see the rights to exist in America be stripped away so easily within multiple states' legislations. There has been such a long fight for the right to exist and get adequate care for such a long time now, and that fact that we are now going backwards in terms of individual rights in America is, if anything, a sign that the republican party is willing to push any kind of legislation to support their agenda no matter who it hurts to get there. In a lot of cases, drag is not even performed by trans people, and yet it is still affected by the bullshit bills legislatures pull out of left field. We as a state are lucky that we ended up going blue this past election, because without that, it is likely that we would have seen bills move forward in Pennsylvania by now too.
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