Tennessee's Tv Law: When Did It Begin?

Television, or TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can also refer to a physical television set. The first documented usage of the term dates back to 1900 when Russian scientist Constantin Perskyi used it in a paper presented in French at the first International Congress of Electricity. The anglicized version of the term was first attested in 1907, when it was still a theoretical system for transmitting moving images over wires.

In the US, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates television content. The FCC was established by Franklin Roosevelt with the assumption that the airwaves, or broadcast bandwidth, belonged to the people. Broadcasters apply for a license to use a section of that public property and have an obligation to serve the interest of the community.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the US. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. TVA was created by Congress in 1933 as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. Its initial purpose was to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, regional planning, and economic development to the Tennessee Valley.

Tennessee Adult Entertainment Act

The Tennessee Adult Entertainment Act, also known as the Tennessee drag ban, was an anti-drag bill signed into law on March 2, 2023, by Governor Bill Lee. The act banned public "adult cabaret performances" in public or in front of children in the state of Tennessee.

The act was criticised for its vague definition of an "adult cabaret performance", which it described as a "male or female impersonator who provides entertainment that appeals to a prurient interest". Despite this vagueness, the bill sparked outrage from the LGBTQ+ community, with some claiming that it was a direct reaction to the circulation of footage from the 2022 Franklin Pride festival online.

On March 27, 2023, the act was challenged by Friends of George's, an LGBTQ+ theatre troupe in Memphis, Tennessee. On April 1, 2023, a federal judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee temporarily blocked the implementation of the act, citing First Amendment concerns. This temporary injunction was changed to a permanent injunction on June 2, 2023.

However, on July 18, 2024, a three-judge panel on the Sixth Circuit reinstated the law, ruling that the plaintiffs had lacked the standing to sue. The ruling did not address whether the law was constitutional.

LGBTQ+ community response

Since 2015, Tennessee has enacted 14 anti-LGBTQ+ laws, more than any other state in the country. The state has been criticised for its stance on LGBTQ+ rights, with the Human Rights Campaign stating that the state's lawmakers are "on the verge of enacting more than twice as many anti-LGBTQ+ laws as any other state, a staggering assault on their own constituents".

The LGBTQ+ community has expressed concern and outrage over Tennessee's anti-LGBTQ+ laws. They argue that these laws discriminate against them and fuel similar legislation in other states. Critics have also highlighted the potential impact on queer Tennesseans, with ACLU of Tennessee's Henry Seaton stating that the laws are "this subtle and sinister way to further criminalize just being trans".

The laws have also been described as a "cruel attempt to stigmatize, marginalize and erase the LGBTQ+ community, particularly transgender Tennesseans". The community has further criticised the laws as an attempt to "exclude [them] from non-discrimination protections" and "perpetuate a false narrative of who transgender people are".

The laws have also been met with legal challenges. In April 2024, the ACLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of a transgender woman who was denied the right to change her gender on her driver's license. In June 2023, the ACLU, along with Lambda Legal and the US Department of Justice, sued the state of Tennessee over its ban on gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors.

In addition to legal challenges, there have been protests against the anti-LGBTQ+ laws in Tennessee. During a protest over the bill targeting drag performances, two people—one trans woman and one drag queen—were arrested by Memphis Police after shouting, "Drag is not a crime" and "Bill Lee is a Nazi".

The laws have also led to economic and social impacts on the state, with reports suggesting that Tennessee could face similar consequences to those experienced by North Carolina in 2016 due to its bathroom laws.

Tennessee drag ban

On March 2, 2023, Tennessee became the first US state to pass an anti-drag bill into law. The Tennessee Adult Entertainment Act, also known as the Tennessee drag ban, was criticised for its vague and authoritarian language. It banned public "adult cabaret performances" in the state, including by "male or female impersonators who provide entertainment that appeals to a prurient interest".

The bill was a response to footage from the 2022 Franklin Pride festival circulating online. It was also criticised for being homophobic and for targeting the LGBTQ+ community. The law was temporarily blocked on April 1, 2023, by a federal judge, who cited First Amendment concerns. However, on July 18, 2024, a three-judge panel on the Sixth Circuit reinstated the law, ruling that the plaintiffs lacked the standing to sue. The law remains in effect, and the debate around it continues.

LGBTQ+ theatre troupe challenge

On March 2, 2023, Tennessee's governor, Bill Lee, signed the Tennessee Adult Entertainment Act, also known as the Tennessee drag ban, into law. This act banned public "adult cabaret performances" in the state, particularly targeting drag performances.

On March 27, 2023, an LGBTQ+ theatre troupe in Memphis, Tennessee, called Friends of George's, challenged the law. A federal judge temporarily blocked the implementation of the act on April 1, 2023, citing First Amendment concerns, and this block was made permanent on June 2, 2023.

However, the state's attorney general filed a Notice of Appeal on June 30, 2023, and on July 18, 2024, a three-judge panel on the Sixth Circuit reinstated the law, ruling that the plaintiffs lacked the standing to sue. This ruling did not address the constitutionality of the law.

The Tennessee Adult Entertainment Act has been widely criticized for being overly vague and authoritarian, with many seeing it as an attempt to stigmatize and erase queer people and performances from public life. The LGBTQ+ community, celebrities, and politicians have all spoken out against the law, and protests have been held in response.

Tennessee Code Public Chapter No. 2

The Tennessee Adult Entertainment Act, also known as the Tennessee drag ban, was signed into law by Governor Bill Lee on March 2, 2023, becoming Public Chapter No. 2 of the Tennessee Code. The Act bans public "adult cabaret performance" in public or in front of children in the state of Tennessee.

The Act defines "adult cabaret performance" vaguely, stating that it involves "male or female impersonators who provide entertainment that appeals to a prurient interest." This definition was criticised for being overly vague and authoritarian, with critics suggesting that the legislation was a direct reaction to the circulation of footage from the 2022 Franklin Pride festival online.

Section 1 of the Act bans "topless dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, male or female impersonators" in the presence of minors. It modifies Tennessee Annotated Code § 7-51-1401 by adding a delineated section for the definition of a performance of adult cabaret. Specifically, the performance would:

• Take place outside of an establishment licensed for that purpose.
• Not be required to be intended as a performance.

Section 2 of the Act specifically mentions § 7-51-1406 with the intent of overriding that section of existing Tennessee law entirely – but only as it respects the named persons. This section would prevent any "adult cabaret performance," as defined in section 1, on public property or in front of "a person who is not an adult."

Section 3 states that the bill would take effect on July 1, 2023.

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