TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Paul Burch on Oct 23, 2023

A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked Murfreesboro city officials from enforcing an ordinance passed last summer designed to ban drag performances from taking place in public areas, reports WKRN. The order, issued by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Waverly Crenshaw Jr., bars the city from enforcing the rule during the BoroPride festival scheduled for Saturday. The ruling comes in response to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee against the city of Murfreesboro on behalf of the Tennessee Equality Project. The lawsuit alleged the Murfreesboro mayor and city manager “engaged in a year-long anti-LGBTQ+ campaign” by passing an ordinance last summer that restricted “indecent behavior” using language the suit labeled says is “staggeringly vague and overbroad.” Read the judge’s order and the ACLU press release.