Tennessee Republicans pass bills to protect kids from confusion-affirming genital mutilations and drag shows

Republicans have mounted a successful campaign against woke cultural imperialism in the state of Tennessee, passing two bills to protect kids both from drag shows and genital mutilations.

Senate Bill 3 is legislation intended to protect minors from "adult-oriented" performances, including those conducted by men masquerading as women, strippers, and exotic dancers, all deemed "harmful to minors."

It was passed Thursday in the state House with a 74-19 vote. After a procedural vote in the Senate concerning changes made in the House, it will go to the desk of Gov. Bill Lee.

Lee indicated that he will also sign into law House Bill 1, a ban on giving mental illness-affirming puberty blockers and genital mutilations to children, which similarly passed in the House on Thursday.

Deviant adult entertainment permitted, but only for adults

Senate Bill 3 was introduced on Jan. 10 and transmitted to the state House earlier this month. It passed with a 74-19 vote on Thursday and will return to the Senate for a procedural vote before final passage, reported the Tennessean.

The bill amends state law pertaining to adult-oriented performances, defining an "adult cabaret performance" as "a performance in a location other than an adult cabaret that features topless dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, male or female impersonators who provide entertainment that appeals to a prurient interest, or similar entertainers, regardless of whether or not performed for consideration."

Upon the signing of the bill, it will be an offense for a person to engage in an adult cabaret performance on public property or in a location where the performance could be viewed by minors.

According to the legislation, a first offense would constitute a Class A misdemeanor. A second or subsequent such offense will be a Class E felony.

State Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R), instrumental in the passage of both bills, said that Senate Bill 3 "gives confidence to parents that they can take their kids to a public or private show and will not be blindsided by a sexualized performance."

Leave those kids alone

HB 1 passed in a 26-6 vote along party lines on Feb. 13 in the Senate and again in the House on Feb. 23 in a 77-16 vote.

This bill replaces existing law prohibiting health care practitioners from prescribing a course of treatment involving harmful puberty blockers and hormones for "gender dysphoric or gender incongruent prepubertal minors" and established more concrete and sweeping prohibitions on the mutilations of youth in the state.

Majority Leader William Lamberth (R) said in House debates over the legislation, "These children do not need these medical procedures to be able to flourish as adults. ... They need mental health treatment. They need love and support, and many of them need to be able to grow up to become the individuals that they were intended to be."

Lamberth also told WATE 6, "We're not going to have, you know, any kind of quack doctor come into this state and start doing double mastectomies on children that are suffering through body dysphoria."

Upon its ratification, the bill will bar health care professionals, establishments, and facilities from performing or offering to perform medical procedures — either of a chemical or surgical nature — that are meant to enable "a minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the immutable characteristics of the reproductive system that define the minor as male or female, as determined by anatomy and genetics existing at the time of birth."

Additionally, it will no longer be permissible to provide medical procedures in an effort to remedy "purported discomfort or distress from a discordance between the minor's sex and asserted identity."

In the event that a medical practitioner or facility violates the law and in so doing transmogrifies a minor, the victim will now be able to bring a lawsuit against the health care provider responsible as well as against his or her parents, should the parent of the minor have "consented to the conduct that constituted the violation on behalf of the minor."

The bill additionally authorizes the attorney general "to bring an action against a healthcare provider that knowingly violates this bill's prohibitions concerning medical procedures, within 20 years of the violation, to enjoin further violations, to disgorge any profits received due to the medical procedure, and to recover a civil penalty of $25,000 per violation."

Though the bill, if signed, will take effect this summer, existing victims will have until March 2024 to cease treatment.

A spokesman for the governor told Fox News Digital Friday that Lee "appreciates the work of Leader Johnson and Leader Lamberth to protect children and intends to sign the bill when it reaches his desk."

Lee previously noted that he was "grateful to the leadership in both houses who have worked to protect kids along those lines."

LGBT activists have vowed to fight the legislation in order so that future generations of kids will have an opportunity to one day regret their irreversible mutilations.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee wrote in a statement Thursday that the ACLU and Lambda Legal "have promised the transgender youth of Tennessee and their families that they will bring immediate legal action against proposed restrictions on their health care should they be signed into law."

Lucas Cameron-Vaughn, a staff attorney with ACLU Tennessee, said, "Gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth is safe, necessary, effective and often life-saving. Legislators are risking trans young people’s health, wellbeing and safety with this dangerous legislation. We urge Governor Lee to veto this overreaching, discriminatory bill, or we will see him in court."

The Tennessee Democratic Party has condemned both bills and indicated that it will call on Lee to veto them.

Johnson noted on Twitter, "Once again, Tennessee leads the nation. We’re committed to ensuring Tennessee is the safest place to raise your family. This is a huge win for our state, and we’ll continue working to protect our kids."

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