The Real, Sinister Political Threat of Tennessee’s New Anti-Drag Law – By Natasha Lennard (The Intercept) / Mar 4, 2023
Politicians have never needed precise laws to brutally police who can and cannot exist freely in public.
ACROSS THE UNITED STATES, Republican lawmakers are intensifying their ongoing, all-out assault on trans existence. More than 300 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were either passed or introduced in 2022, the majority taking aim at trans youth through health care bans, sports team restrictions, and bathroom bills, and removing Medicaid coverage for trans adults’ health care too.
Meanwhile, drag performances, particularly family-friendly drag brunches and drag queen story hours at libraries, have become a focal point of histrionic Republican rhetoric and far-right militia attacks.
With obsessive ferocity, the right is attempting to criminalize, harass, and legislate gender nonconformity out of existence. Tennessee has taken a step forward in this goal with the recent passage of companion bills targeting drag shows, which, contrary to most media reports, do not actually ban anything that wasn’t already illegal.
CONTINUE > https://theintercept.com/2023/03/04/tennessee-anti-drag-law/
