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beam me up scottie

(57,349 posts)
Mon Sep 18, 2017, 05:49 PM Sep 2017

Meanwhile in the bible belt the ACLU is fighting a city's ban on drag shows.

ACLU of Tennessee Threatens Suit Ahead of City’s Ordinance Banning Drag Shows
by ryan williams-jent
September 17, 2017 5:56 PM

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Tennessee is threatening suit ahead of a vote on an ordinance banning drag shows in the city of Portland, Tennessee.

As HuffPost reported, “drag has recently become part of the nightlife in Portland, Tennessee, a town of about 12,000 just outside Nashville. Kyle and Raymond Guillermo, Jr. of Elite Productions have been holding drag nights at Envy, a Portland restaurant and bar since August.”

Following a sold-out show on September 5th, town officials began the notion of of classifying drag shows as a form of “adult-oriented business” that “may be erotic (in) nature.” Local measures prevent “adult-oriented business” within most of the city’s limits.

Guillermo told the Tennessean that the ordinance was a response to a drag show his company had organized on August 12th, noting that afterwards he had received hate mail. “People are trying to get us out of Portland,” he said. “We are drag queens, we are not taking our clothes off. We are not cabaret.”

“Courts have held that government can impose some reasonable restrictions on adult entertainment,” the ACLU of Tennessee said in its statement. “However… artistic expression is not sexual or erotic in nature simply because it involves male or female impersonators and, therefore, it cannot be regulated like ‘adult-oriented businesses.’”

“The First Amendment protects freedom of speech and expression, no matter what you are wearing,” the chapter’s legal director Thomas H. Castelli said. “It’s discriminatory and unconstitutional to single out male and female impersonators in a bid to shut down their speech. If members of the city council are uncomfortable with the drag show, they do not need to attend the performance. But they can’t ban it.”

http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/ryanjent/aclu_of_tennessee_threatens_suit_ahead_of_city_s_ordinance_banning_drag_shows?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Post&utm_campaign=PM&utm_content=ACLU+of+Tennessee+Threatens+Suit+Ahead+of+City’s+Ordinance+Banning+Drag+Shows







Thank Cthulhu for the ACLU.








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Meanwhile in the bible belt the ACLU is fighting a city's ban on drag shows. (Original Post) beam me up scottie Sep 2017 OP
I'm actually more shocked that there's a drag show in Portland, TN Docreed2003 Sep 2017 #1
They're putting them on at a club called Envy, and they're sold out. beam me up scottie Sep 2017 #2
You live near Nashville Scottie? Docreed2003 Sep 2017 #3
Yep, we live north of the city. beam me up scottie Sep 2017 #4
Small world!! Docreed2003 Sep 2017 #6
I was shocked too. I'm from Gallatin, TN bitterross Sep 2017 #5
I was born in Gallatin as well. Docreed2003 Sep 2017 #7
never saw anything remotely sexy at an drag show witnessed by me. mostly its just msongs Sep 2017 #8
That's because it's not meant to be erotic. beam me up scottie Sep 2017 #9
The bible beating fussbudgets are being aroused defacto7 Sep 2017 #12
There was a rally in support of the drag queens while the council met: beam me up scottie Sep 2017 #10
Yay! Love it. Duppers Sep 2017 #13
GO ACLU! Best money spent in America. mountain grammy Sep 2017 #11

Docreed2003

(17,853 posts)
1. I'm actually more shocked that there's a drag show in Portland, TN
Mon Sep 18, 2017, 06:13 PM
Sep 2017

Than I am that these prudes would be protesting the show. Portland is a small, rural town a stones throw from where I live. The only thing I can think is that the show must be associated with a roadside bar or something, because Portland is on I-65. Guess I have a reason to go to Portland now, lol!!

beam me up scottie

(57,349 posts)
2. They're putting them on at a club called Envy, and they're sold out.
Mon Sep 18, 2017, 06:20 PM
Sep 2017

Last edited Mon Sep 18, 2017, 09:55 PM - Edit history (1)

I have friends in Portland and they think it's awesome. We plan to go as soon as my boyfriend can get the night off.

I hope they expand and start having drag parades like they do on Sundays in Montreal. Make it a family affair!

Docreed2003

(17,853 posts)
6. Small world!!
Mon Sep 18, 2017, 06:36 PM
Sep 2017

I grew up in the boonies north of Nashville. We're more suburbanites now, but I miss the quiet of the country!

 

bitterross

(4,066 posts)
5. I was shocked too. I'm from Gallatin, TN
Mon Sep 18, 2017, 06:35 PM
Sep 2017

I was born in Gallatin and lived in Oak Grove - really, really close to Portland. In fact, during summer break in college I'd work at a factory in Portland.

I almost fell out of my chair when I heard about this.

To their credit, most of my FaceBook friends from home that still live in that area are all supportive of letting the show go on. They say if you don't like it then don't go.

Docreed2003

(17,853 posts)
7. I was born in Gallatin as well.
Mon Sep 18, 2017, 06:41 PM
Sep 2017

I have family that live/lived in Oak Grove/Westmorland. I grew up between Westmorland and Gallatin. Small world.

It's cool that the club is getting local support! Like I said, now I've got a reason to drive up there!!

beam me up scottie

(57,349 posts)
9. That's because it's not meant to be erotic.
Mon Sep 18, 2017, 07:07 PM
Sep 2017

The bible thumping fussbudgets on the council are only using that as an excuse to ban the shows.

Drag is an art form, imo, and an important one.

A Brief History of Drag in the Art World

Drag has a rich cultural history, spanning cross-dressing performances and deliberate parodies of fixed roles of gender and sexuality. Men have been performing on stage as women since the Ancient Greek tragedies, Shakespeare famously cast men as women, and Baroque operas featured early examples of drag.

The term “drag queen” was first used to describe men appearing in women’s clothing in Polari—a type of British slang that was popularized among gay men and the theater community in the late 19th and 20th centuries. And while drag has long maintained a powerful presence in popular culture, more recently, it has developed a strong foothold in the art world as well.

Today, in the wake of the popular television program RuPaul’s Drag Race, drag queen Conchita Wurst winning the Eurovision Song Contest, and new drag-themed club nights popping up across London, New York, and L.A., one could say that drag is in the midst of having a mainstream moment. Riding this wave of popularity are art galleries and museums. Recently, drag has been identified as an influence among major art exhibitions, like the Whitney Biennial in New York, and performance programs, like “Contemporary Drag” at NADA New York this past March. It also serves as one of the themes in the new show “Queer British Art” at Tate Britain.

Artists have historically created work that might not be considered or intended to be “drag,” but nonetheless similarly challenge and deconstruct rigid social and sexual archetypes. Take, for example, Marcel Duchamp’s female alter ego Rrose Sélavy, who first appeared in 1920. The character’s name was a pun on “Eros, c’est la vie” (meaning “eros, it is life”) and she appeared in several portraits taken by photographer Man Ray. Sélavy was an expression of Duchamp’s love for subversion and enigma. Similarly, the artist Claude Cahun was the male alter ego of the Surrealist Lucie Schwob, who took self-portraits dressed in male garments.

https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-history-drag-art

defacto7

(13,631 posts)
12. The bible beating fussbudgets are being aroused
Tue Sep 19, 2017, 10:39 AM
Sep 2017

by it. Most of us appreciate the entertainment. It's fun. Fun makes you happy. But the bible beaters are emotionally disturbed and worried that their guarded sexual desires put their salvation at stake. They don't want their naughty sins thrust into the open!

beam me up scottie

(57,349 posts)
10. There was a rally in support of the drag queens while the council met:
Mon Sep 18, 2017, 10:32 PM
Sep 2017



A few hellfire and brimstone types showed up to heckle the protesters, much hilarity ensued.

mountain grammy

(27,345 posts)
11. GO ACLU! Best money spent in America.
Tue Sep 19, 2017, 08:45 AM
Sep 2017

If you ever get to Denver... Lannie's Clocktower Cabaret! Almost more fun than an old lady can take.

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