Appeals court tosses lawsuit challenging Tennessee drag restrictions law
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A federal appeals court on Thursday threw out a lawsuit challenging the 2023 Tennessee law designed to restrict drag performances.
Why it matters: The ruling overturns a lower court opinion that had blocked the law on First Amendment grounds.
State of play: The appeals court said the Memphis theater company that filed the suit did not have standing to sue.
Zoom in: The law makes it a crime to perform "adult cabaret" in public or anywhere minors could see it.
- It defined such a performance as "adult-oriented performances that are harmful to minors" under the state's obscenity code. The law said those performances might include "male or female impersonators."
- Republican supporters argued the law would protect children from seeing sexually explicit performances. Opponents argued the state's existing obscenity law already did that, and that the new drag-centric additions could be applied too broadly in order to stop legal performances.
Flashback: The lower court judge agreed with the opponents, and ruled last year that the law was "purposefully overbroad such that it can chill speech that may be constitutionally-protected."
The latest: In the Thursday ruling reversing that decision, a panel from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found the Memphis theater company, which produces shows that include drag, was not at risk of violating the law because its shows would not meet the legal definition of "harmful to minors."
What's next: An attorney who represented the theater company said they would ask the full 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider the case.