The republicans don’t care they keep losing. This is a holy war for them. They are doing god’s work of wiping the LGBTQIA from society and returning women to their submissive roles. But their goal is to roll back and undo any progress in the US for equality and allowing others to enjoy civil rights. They want a theocracy instead of a democracy. Hugs. Scottie
Murfeesboro tried to ban drag queens from a local Pride festival. A federal judge put a halt to it.
While Tennessee Republicans have done their best to vilify drag queens and ban drag shows, they keep getting knocked back by judges who rule that the bans are unconstitutional.
The city of Murfreesboro became the latest municipality to find out the hard way when a federal judge blocked their attempt to interfere with a local Pride festival.
‘Drag Race’ alums and local performers joined the Grammy-winner onstage in Knoxville.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the ACLU of Tennessee sued over the city’s efforts to silence a local LGBTQ+ organization, including a city-wide policy denying the group permits to host events and a local ordinance banning drag performances.
The lawsuit accused the city of Murfreesboro of “flagrant and ongoing violations of TEP’s constitutional rights to free speech and expression, due process, and equal protection under the law.”
“Since at least October 2022, the City has engaged in a targeted campaign to silence TEP’s speech in support of the Murfreesboro LGBTQ+ community,” the suit claimed. “First, the City put in place a discriminatory policy, prohibiting TEP from obtaining permits to host its annual BoroPride Festival and any other events on City property. Then, it enacted a discriminatory ordinance meant to drive TEP and the City’s LGBTQ+ community—and, in particular, its drag performers—out of the City’s public spaces. These actions, which were driven by animus against the LGBTQ+ community, are blatantly unconstitutional.”
“We are relieved that the court has taken action to ensure that Murfreesboro’s discriminatory ordinance will not be enforced during the BoroPride festival. We look forward to a safe, joyful celebration of Murfreesboro’s LGBTQ+ community,” Tennessee Equality Project Executive Director Chris Sanders said in a statement.
Several other cities have made efforts to discriminate against LGBTQ+ groups and Pride festivals, but the efforts have consistently failed.
A federal judge appointed by Donald Trump ruled against Tennessee’s ban on drag performances, saying that the law is both “unconstitutionally vague and substantially overbroad,” that it will encourage “discriminatory enforcement,” and that it violates the First Amendment’s free speech protections.
“There is no question that obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment. But there is a difference between material that is ‘obscene’ in the vernacular, and material that is ‘obscene’ under the law,” Judge Thomas Parker ruled in June. “Simply put, no majority of the Supreme Court has held that sexually explicit — but not obscene — speech receives less protection than political, artistic, or scientific speech.”
I am an older gay guy in a long-term wonderful relationship. My spouse and I are in our 36th year together. I love politics and news. I enjoy civil discussions and have no taboo subjects. My pronouns are he / him / his and my email is Scottiestoybox@gmail.com
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5 thoughts on “Tennessee Republicans keep losing court battles with drag queens”
Of note is the list of candidates who did not deign to answer forum questions. I am aware that two of them, Brad Ledbetter and Sarah Lawrence, are rightwingers who are only answering to themselves and entities similar to M4L. The other two, well, don’t seem to get much attention at all, and don’t get elected, either. My recollection is that Mr. Ledbetter was soundly whipped last time; Ms. Lawrence is running for the 1st time. A little more about Mr. Ledbetter is here: https://www.sumnernewscow.com/glenn-arlie-ledbetter-85-wellington-dec-19-1936-aug-22-2022/ , and they’re all over Google, too. They have no children in the public schools, their kids went to parochial school. I guess that’s more than a link; sorry, ha! 🙂 Anyway, just a little something to look at when you’re not busy. Seriously, just when you’re not busy. I hope all is going better, and that you’ve gotten some balance back in your days!
Hello Ali. We must make sure these anti-LGBTQIA Christian nationalist do not get in charge of public schools! Their goal is to make them a place to preach their religion to other people’s children. And yes a lot of these are stealth candidates, people who don’t let their own kids go to public school and won’t tell you their affiliations with churches until they have won. Hugs. Scottie
The second part of the forum was published this morning. You can get to it from the same link, then click on it in the righthand column, or clicking the banner for the home page. The same 4 did not answer the 2d half, either. Mr. Ledbetter’s signs are red and blue striped, saying “Vote Loud! Vote Proud! Vote Brad Ledbetter!” What a nut.
Hello Ali. What is scary is the new Speaker of the House of Representatives is a fundamentalist Christian nationalist just like these people. They want and are driven to make a religious take over of the US. People think it couldn’t happen. But remember history. Iran was a secular nation. Very progressive. A small driven Muslim religious sect managed to work their way into power, and then because most of the population wanted change but did not understand or realize just what the goal of the hyper fundamentalist religious people were because at first they were vague promising to make things better, take the country back to a time when the people and god were listened to the religious fanatics were able to take over.
That is happening here. Now look at Iran, a complete theocracy that the people do not want. But they lost the right to have a say. God’s will is now enforced by violence and guns, beatings resulting in death. The mosque’s rule, the Imams words are not law. Moral vice police patrol the streets, and another 16-year-old girl lost her life due to a beating by those moral police because she did not cover her hair properly according to their interpretation of their holy words. When we see Proud Boy thugs shut down drag queen story hours with threats of violence and when police forces that side with the religious bigots then we are well on the way to them being a Taliban / moral police and the US a theocracy.
I see what has happened in other countries as religion has taken over. It is happening right now in the US. People think it can not happen here, we are too smart, too technological. Bull, it is happening right now here. People need to see the threat posed by people like Speaker Johnson and DeathSantis, the current governor and administration of Oklahoma, that are proclaiming the state a Christian state and installing religious edicts in public schools. We need to understand the threat is serious. Spread the word. Hugs
It absolutely is happening here. The things that have been happening all over the country are not normal, nor should they be tolerated by people in a democratic republic, nor by real Christians, if they choose to differentiate themselves. But, here we are. Everybody worries about the voting, but if voting was all we had to do, we wouldn’t be here now. People need to take up their civic yoke and get this theocratic, autocratic, fascist stuff out of our statehouses and our federal legislatures. Or, our constitutional republican experiment will be over, and failed.
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Scottie's Playtime 
Hi, Scottie, I wanted to leave you a link in regard to previous discussions about school board meetings and elections. Today part of the Board candidates’s forum is published, here: https://www.sumnernewscow.com/sumner-newscow-candidates-forum-the-wellington-school-board-race-part-1-of-2/ .
Of note is the list of candidates who did not deign to answer forum questions. I am aware that two of them, Brad Ledbetter and Sarah Lawrence, are rightwingers who are only answering to themselves and entities similar to M4L. The other two, well, don’t seem to get much attention at all, and don’t get elected, either. My recollection is that Mr. Ledbetter was soundly whipped last time; Ms. Lawrence is running for the 1st time. A little more about Mr. Ledbetter is here: https://www.sumnernewscow.com/glenn-arlie-ledbetter-85-wellington-dec-19-1936-aug-22-2022/ , and they’re all over Google, too. They have no children in the public schools, their kids went to parochial school. I guess that’s more than a link; sorry, ha! 🙂 Anyway, just a little something to look at when you’re not busy. Seriously, just when you’re not busy. I hope all is going better, and that you’ve gotten some balance back in your days!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hello Ali. We must make sure these anti-LGBTQIA Christian nationalist do not get in charge of public schools! Their goal is to make them a place to preach their religion to other people’s children. And yes a lot of these are stealth candidates, people who don’t let their own kids go to public school and won’t tell you their affiliations with churches until they have won. Hugs. Scottie
LikeLiked by 1 person
The second part of the forum was published this morning. You can get to it from the same link, then click on it in the righthand column, or clicking the banner for the home page. The same 4 did not answer the 2d half, either. Mr. Ledbetter’s signs are red and blue striped, saying “Vote Loud! Vote Proud! Vote Brad Ledbetter!” What a nut.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hello Ali. What is scary is the new Speaker of the House of Representatives is a fundamentalist Christian nationalist just like these people. They want and are driven to make a religious take over of the US. People think it couldn’t happen. But remember history. Iran was a secular nation. Very progressive. A small driven Muslim religious sect managed to work their way into power, and then because most of the population wanted change but did not understand or realize just what the goal of the hyper fundamentalist religious people were because at first they were vague promising to make things better, take the country back to a time when the people and god were listened to the religious fanatics were able to take over.
That is happening here. Now look at Iran, a complete theocracy that the people do not want. But they lost the right to have a say. God’s will is now enforced by violence and guns, beatings resulting in death. The mosque’s rule, the Imams words are not law. Moral vice police patrol the streets, and another 16-year-old girl lost her life due to a beating by those moral police because she did not cover her hair properly according to their interpretation of their holy words. When we see Proud Boy thugs shut down drag queen story hours with threats of violence and when police forces that side with the religious bigots then we are well on the way to them being a Taliban / moral police and the US a theocracy.
I see what has happened in other countries as religion has taken over. It is happening right now in the US. People think it can not happen here, we are too smart, too technological. Bull, it is happening right now here. People need to see the threat posed by people like Speaker Johnson and DeathSantis, the current governor and administration of Oklahoma, that are proclaiming the state a Christian state and installing religious edicts in public schools. We need to understand the threat is serious. Spread the word. Hugs
LikeLiked by 1 person
It absolutely is happening here. The things that have been happening all over the country are not normal, nor should they be tolerated by people in a democratic republic, nor by real Christians, if they choose to differentiate themselves. But, here we are. Everybody worries about the voting, but if voting was all we had to do, we wouldn’t be here now. People need to take up their civic yoke and get this theocratic, autocratic, fascist stuff out of our statehouses and our federal legislatures. Or, our constitutional republican experiment will be over, and failed.
LikeLiked by 1 person