(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Anti-drag Tennessee governor runs from a reporter when confronted with a photo of himself in drag [1] ['Daily Kos Staff', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-28 Before scrambling into his SUV, the governor added: “I think the concern is what’s right there in that building. Children that are potentially exposed to sexualized entertainment, to obscenity. And we need to make sure they’re not. I think that’s something that should happen in Tennessee and it will because of this bill.” x 👀 WATCH: “Do you remember dressing in drag in 1977? Is it only illegal when gay people do it?” @GovBillLee didn’t appreciate that we printed out the FRANKLIN HIGH YEARBOOK PHOTO — but did not deny it’s him. Meanwhile he’s about to make drag a felony by signing an absurd law.🤔 pic.twitter.com/C7YQcQyis3 — The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) February 27, 2023 HB 0009 does not specifically ban drag shows; it bars “adult cabaret performances” on public property or in a location where they could be viewed by a minor. The bill cites topless dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, and male or female impersonators. The bill passed in the Tennessee House 74-19, and will return to the Senate for a procedural vote, and then to Lee’s desk for his signature. The Tennessee ACLU writes that the anti-transgender bills are not only in violation of the First Amendment to express oneself, but they’re “written so broadly and vaguely that they would allow government officials to censor performers based on their own subjective viewpoints of what they deem appropriate on any given day,” and describing the bills as a “malicious attempt to remove LGBTQ people from public life. These bans are being fueled by the same paranoia banning books and censoring teachers.” Lee’s term has been notoriously anti-LGBTQ and anti-trans. In 2021, the governor signed HB 3, an anti-transgender bill banning trans girls and women in the state from playing on teams that align with their gender identity. The bill states: “a student’s gender for purposes of participation in a public middle school or high school interscholastic athletic activity or event be determined by the student’s sex at the time of the student's birth, as indicated on the student’s original birth certificate.” Lee’s apparent drag photo isn’t the first offensive photo to become public. In 2019, NBC News reported on Lee’s time at Auburn University in the Kappa Alpha fraternity, where he and other members dressed in Confederate uniforms for an “Old South” shindig. Lee was seen in the 1980 yearbook photo wearing a Confederate soldier costume and is seen standing beside a woman in an antebellum dress. One photo (not with Lee) is captioned, "The South shall rise again, right Bill! When the band plays 'Dixie,' a tear comes to our eyes. I'd do anything, Lee, but she comes first." Lee was forced to apologize when the photo became public. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/28/2155452/-Tennessee-Republican-governor-flees-when-reporter-confronts-him-with-an-old-photo-of-him-in-drag Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/