I’m there played drag at their concert yesterday in Nashville, Tennessee, in apparent protest of the state’s strict new drag law, The Tennessee reports (via Stereogum). After opening their usual set, the band returned in drag to play the rest of the show, with Ira Kaplan wearing “makeup, a red dress, and a long black wig,” according to The Tennessee. They did not comment on the law during the show, and said in a statement, “What we did last night could not be clearer, and no further comment is needed.”
Tennessee’s governor, Bill Lee, signed the law last month, drawing condemnation from across the country. Although the bill does not ban drag shows, it limits where they can take place, and invites conservative interpretations by Conservatives to equate any drag show with obscenity, campaigners say.
In a statement reported by The TennesseeStella Yarbrough, the legal director of the ACLU’s Tennessee branch, said, “We are concerned that government officials could easily abuse this law to censor people based on their own subjective views of what they deem appropriate, chilling of protected free speech and to send a message to LGBTQ Tennesseans that they are not welcome in our state. Governor Lee signed the bill in the same move as he banned gender-affirming health care for children who is transgender, aligning the bill’s restrictions on “male and female impersonators” with a broader attack on queer rights.
Next Monday, many artists will protest the law with a benefit concertLove Rising, at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Brittany Howard, Sheryl Crow, Maren Morris, Jason Isbell, Hayley Williamsand Julien Baker included in the bill. Proceeds benefit the Tennessee Equality Project, Incorporation of Tennessee, OUTMemphisand the Tennessee Pride Chamber in partnership with the Looking Out Foundation, which also accepted donations. The Tennessee Equality Project encourages Tennessee residents to register to vote.