Tennessee poised to become first state to restrict drag performances in 2023

Washington CNN —Tennessee is set to become the first state this year to enact legislation to restrict public drag show performances. Tennessee’s is the first of nearly a dozen such bills presently working their way through GOP-led state legislatures. Tennessee Republican state Sen. Jack Johnson, who sponsored the legislation, previously told CNN that his legislation “is not anti-drag. It is pro-child.”“I am carrying the legislation to protect children from being exposed to sexually explicit drag shows that are inappropriate for minor audiences. At a news conference on Monday, Lee ignored a question about whether he had once dressed in drag but rejected any comparisons between the purported image and the drag show legislation.