SCOTUS Rejects Challenge To Tennessee Drag Ban

The Hill reports:

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge to a Tennessee law restricting some drag performances, allowing the first-in-the-nation law to remain largely intact. In a brief, unsigned order, the justices denied a Tennessee theater company’s request to intervene in its challenge to the state’s limits on drag, first enacted in 2023 by the Republican-dominated Legislature.

A Tennessee court had previously deemed the law, which targets “adult-oriented performances” that take place in public or where they may be seen by minors, unconstitutional, blocking its enforcement in parts of the state. A federal appeals court reversed that decision in July, ruling that the Memphis-based theater group Friends of George’s lacked the legal standing to challenge Tennessee’s restrictions.

Read the full article. Christian nationalist Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee [photo], who issues an annual call for prayer and fasting, supported the bill.

Supreme Court declines to take up challenge to Tennessee law restricting drag shows https://t.co/aB2dNREUDH

— The Hill (@thehill) February 24, 2025