Actors' Equity Association on Wednesday urged live theaters in Tennessee to lobby to overturn new legislation restricting drag performances in the state, calling the lawmakers who approved it "ridiculous politicians." In a statement, Deadline reports, the union said it is "monitoring the progress of similarly dystopian laws in other states," as well. Gov. Bill Lee last week signed the nation's first law criminalizing drag performances held in public or anywhere children could see them. The union said the law puts people at physical risk. "The harm in Tennessee is focused on both personal and performance-based gender identity," the statement said. "We will not tolerate gender-based threats or violence."
Drag star RuPaul also criticized the law and Tennessee politicians on Wednesday in a video posted to Instagram. The legislation is "distracting us away from the real issues that they were voted into office to focus on—jobs, healthcare, keeping our children safe from harm at their own school," he said, per Yahoo Entertainment. Singers including Sheryl Crow, Maren Morris, and Jason Isbell have signed on to appear at a March 20 benefit in Nashville for organizations supporting LGBTQ people, per the Hill. Isbell was among the performers who addressed the legislation in a statement, saying it was an attack on "Tennesseans who haven't done anything wrong." (More drag stories.)
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