Male and female impersonators have been a part of entertainment since the days before Shakespeare.  The word DRAG came from the acronym doing role as a girl because in Shakespeare’s day, women were not allowed to be actors and the men had to play ALL of the parts; including the female roles.

But states like Tennessee want to squash all of that and have passed a new law to limit the forms of entertainment patrons can see.  The law never mentions the word drag, but it is very specific about male and female impersonators.  The law also includes “topless, go-go, exotic dancers, and strippers. 

Not listed in the law are films and theatre productions where there have been plenty of examples of impersonation from Flip Wilson’s Geraldine to Jamie Farr’s Klinger and the films “Tootsie”, “Victor, Victoria”, and “Mrs. Doubtfire”.  Each year Broadway has several of its productions making national tours which also include productions with actors whose roles are written as impersonations like “Hairspray”, “Rocky Horror Picture Show”, and “Kinky Boots”.

The law states that the shows cannot be staged on public property or anywhere a child may see them and any venue wishing to put on such a show must be designated as an “adult cabaret” venue.

And what of music artists such as Boy George of Culture Club and other artists who choice of costume would be viewed as objectionable by the definition of the new law?

The author of the bill, Jack Johnson stated that the bill is designed to, “put age restrictions in place to ensure that children are not present at sexually explicit performances.”

The union for actors and crew members on Broadway and in theatres across the country the Actor’s Equity Association commented on the law saying, “we want to be extremely clear that performing artists across our country are protected from government overreach by the First Amendment. We are prepared to defend our right to safe and harassment-free workplaces. For centuries, performers have worn costumes that society deems inconsistent with the sex they were assigned at birth. The Ancient Greeks did it, Elizabethans performing Shakespeare’s plays did it and contemporary artists do it too. We will not stand quietly by while our traditions or our work – in shows like ‘Peter Pan’, ‘Hairspray’, ‘Chicago’, ‘Rent’, ‘Angels in America’ and too many more to name – are reclassified as obscenity by ridiculous politicians. Culture wars are not bloodless, and they are rarely isolated. Escalating rhetoric can quickly lead to unsafe conditions. Right now, the harm in Tennessee is focused on both personal and performance-based gender identity. We will not tolerate gender-based threats or violence…We stand in solidarity with drag performers. We also stand with young Tennesseans who are affirming their own gender. We see you, we value you and we know you will remember this when you’re old enough to vote. To everyone else in Tennessee: your beautiful state deserves better. Please stop electing these people.”

Tennessee is just the first state to pass such legislation; but other have similar bills in the works that are designed to attack anyone who does not conform to their draconian views. 

Set to take effect on July 1; any violation of the new law is a Class misdemeanor for a first offense and escalates to a Class E felony on a second offense.