Federal Court Strikes Down Tennessee Drag-Performance Ban as Unconstitutional

In early 2023, Tennessee enacted the Adult Entertainment Act, one of the first laws in the country to broadly restrict drag performances in public spaces and venues where minors might be present. Friends of George's, a Memphis-based nonprofit theater troupe that had staged drag shows and LGBTQ+ theatrical performances for years, faced the prospect of closure under the new statute. The group filed suit in federal court on March 27, 2023, challenging the law as a violation of the First Amendment.

Brice Timmons and Melissa Stewart of Donati Law represented Friends of George's in the case, working alongside attorneys from two other Memphis firms. The litigation raised constitutional questions with no settled federal precedent: whether a state law restricting adult-style expressive performances could survive First Amendment scrutiny, and whether the statute's reach, extending to any venue a minor 'could' enter, was too broad to be enforced.

After an April 2023 hearing that produced a temporary restraining order, U.S. District Judge Thomas L. Parker held a full hearing on a permanent injunction. On June 2, 2023, the court issued a ruling declaring the Adult Entertainment Act unconstitutional in its entirety. Judge Parker found the law imposed a 'content- and viewpoint-based restriction on speech' without adequate safeguards, was substantially overbroad, and failed to provide fair notice of what conduct it prohibited. The opinion noted that the statute 'fails to provide fair notice of what is prohibited, and it encourages discriminatory enforcement.' The court permanently enjoined the named defendant, Shelby County District Attorney Steven Mulroy, from enforcing the statute.

The ruling drew national coverage as the first federal district court decision to strike down a state drag-ban law on First Amendment grounds. Friends of George's welcomed the outcome as protecting drag artists' right to perform without fear of criminal prosecution.

On appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed the district court's injunction on July 18, 2024, in a 2-1 decision. The majority held that Friends of George's lacked standing because the troupe had not shown the law's 'harmful to minors' standard would apply to its own performances. Judge Andre Mathis dissented. The district-court ruling striking down the law as unconstitutional thus did not stand as a final resolution, and the underlying legal questions remain unresolved.