Tennessee bans drag shows from taking place in public or in front of children

And now she'll find her way. For 24 years, Didi has built a career performing in drag shows. Are y'all ready for a fabulous show? As a trans woman from rural Tennessee, Didi says drag gave her an outlet and a community. But that community is now on edge. It's definitely very scary. I definitely always get our security to walk us to the car now. I never did that before.

This week, Tennessee became the first state to pass a law that will restrict drag performances on public property or anywhere a child could see them. Conservatives say drag shows expose children to sexually suggestive content. While performers here say the law is discriminatory and feels designed to push them back into the closet. I hate it. I absolutely hate it because I can't be myself no more. I have to be what they think I should be. Bill's sponsor, Jack Johnson, argues this law isn't meant to target the LGBTQ community.

It's about protecting children. Are you trying to send a signal that some types of communities, some types of people aren't welcome here in Tennessee? The only signal I'm trying to send is that you shouldn't be doing sexually graphic, you shouldn't be simulating sex acts in front of children. The law targets performances that are harmful to minors, but it doesn't say how performances will be determined to be harmful or sexual. Who's going to decide what's sexually explicit, what's inappropriate? Well, the same way any law is enforced. With our law enforcement, our district attorneys, the same way they prosecute any other criminal offense. Ken Peters is a pastor and a parent. He organized demonstrations in support of this law.

I think it's ridiculous for folks to think that we Christians shouldn't push our values and our ideology just like the LGBTQ movement has a right to push theirs. We Christians feel targeted. I know they might feel targeted from this situation. That's really not our heart. It's our lifestyle, our culture is being. The majority. Most of the lawmakers in there agree with you.

How can you feel targeted? We feel targeted in the country as a whole, maybe not in Tennessee. That's why we moved here. Across the country, similar laws are in the works with conservative lawmakers in at least 13 other states advancing bills to restrict drag. For Dee Dee, Tennessee is home. Her family is here. So she says her only option is to stay and fight. Any kind of a discriminatory bill like this, they are trying to bully you.

We are a very, very strong community and so we're not going anywhere.

Drag, Drag show, Tennessee