Tennessee Governor Bill Lee is poised to sign a new bill in his
state that would criminalize some drag and
adult cabaret performances if they are sexual in nature and
are performed in public or in view of children.
Now that's interesting considering he was once caught dressed as a woman,
we'll get to that in just a moment.
You're gonna have to wait for that.
But first a few details about the legislation, Tennessee legislators
passed a bill to restrict adult cabaret performances in public or
in front of children.
It defines adult cabaret performers as 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.
Now the language of the bill itself is pretty specific, which makes it
different from the don't say gay bill in Florida, just keeping it real.
And in my view, what they did is incredibly redundant because those
types of sexually charged performances like stripping, for
instance, is already illegal in front of minors.
But nonetheless, answering reporters questions Monday,
governor Lee, a Republican of course, said that he would sign the.
It's being referred to as a drag bill in addition to a separate piece of
legislation that would prohibit gender affirming care for the state's minors.
Now, before I get to the photo in question,
the evidence of him dressing as a woman in the past.
Cenk what are your thoughts on the legislation itself?
>> Yeah, not buying it.
So look guys, if they wanted to just ban things that were sexual,
that's relatively easy to do and
straightforward once you start naming particular groups you want to ban.
And I don't mean like plumbers and dentists.
I mean, people who dress this way,
people who have this kind of gender identity, etc.
Well then you're kind of showing your hand,
we can see why you're going in that direction.
So when you say prurient interest, that's so vague.
So I was in South Beach about a year ago while walking by Ocean Avenue.
There's this great restaurant that have a drag show brunch.
And it was, I watched it for about five, ten minutes.
It was so much fun.
Everybody's having the time of their lives.
Now, one of the women were one of the people went up on what looks like
a stripper pole, right, and came back down, was it prurient?
Not really I wouldn't have minded if my kids saw that.
They don't even know that it's she's emulating a stripper pole,
they've never heard of it, right?
So, but if you're a regulator and you don't like people who go to drag shows or
who are participating drag shows, you go, yeah, that's it.
Everybody knows that's a stripper pole.
Well, it's not actually literally a pole in the middle of the restaurant, right?
But okay, I don't like the way they're dressed by the way they think people that
are in drag shows, they think it's sexual by nature right.
There, I mean, look at them.
I mean they don't look like us at all.
Why are they dressed like that?
It's, and partly because they're attracted to them.
So they think, well.
>> Common Cenk.
>> It's prurient no, look, come on dude.
He dressed up as a woman before and he did it for a school gag.
Sure you did big guy.
I've seen 1000 frat guys get dressed up as girls and
hold each other's hands 1000, okay.
And they're all in steven crowder and all those guys and they all do it for,
it's a gag, okay.
And, I don't like people who dressed in drag if you say so.
>> Okay, I'm gonna say something that's probably gonna upset a lot of people, but
it's the truth.
This is different from what they did in Florida for a lot of different reasons.
I don't want people to panic over this because I do see this as just redundant
legislation that's meant to provide the illusion of governing and
doing their jobs.
They're just virtue signaling to the right wing voters, their base.
But at the end of the day, look, this is different because in Florida, right?
The so called,
don't say gay bill weaponized ordinary people against the teachers, right?
It would bring lawsuits against teachers who are providing a curriculum
that whoever is bringing the lawsuit forward didn't like, okay.
And that creates this.
It just cripples the teacher's ability to do things and
it makes them become like overly cautious, which is why there's so many book bans.
They don't want to take the chance of having a complaint or
a lawsuit filed against them.
This is different, right?
Where there, it doesn't provide, there's no provision there that says people can
bring lawsuits against these individuals.
It's, if there's a violation, the first violation is a misdemeanor.
If they do it again, it'll be a felony.
>> Yeah.
>> I don't really think legislators are gonna be running Tennessee looking for
drag queens.
No, they are, they definitely are.
So let's, talk about it.
So look, here's the parts I agree with you Anna, it's obviously a distraction.
So they already have a law on the books.
They don't want to give you higher wages, healthcare, etc.
This is like classic.
>> Smoke spring.
>> You guys think about it.
The internet exists.
Who cares that I was walking by on Ocean Avenue in South Beach.
I could have just gone to my phone and one click away from people
doing things of prurient interests, [LAUGH] okay, all of these.
>> That's, very vague Cenk.
What do you mean, exactly?
>> Yeah. >> Yeah.
>> Okay, so. >> They're going to take your phone away,
your entire phone.
>> No, they would actually, if they pass a law like that.
No, hold on. >> Okay.
>> So number one, we 100% agree that it's a distraction.
Okay. >> Okay.
>> Horse crap.
Okay, no, number two, it is different that individuals can't sue and
is absolutely right about that, okay.
Number three already, there's laws against bring kids to sexual shows, etc club.
>> You can't bring a kid to sexual show.
>> Okay. >> The laws already exist.
>> Yeah, hey, can you bring your seven year old?
No, they say, hey, are you 21 when you're entering a strip club right?
So, but why are they bothering to pass this other than a distraction?
Yeah, because goddamn right.
They're gonna crack down and even if they don't crack down, you know what they are.
Members are writing in their teachers in Florida and what they're saying is,
well, look guys, I'm 60, I'm not yet retired.
I can't afford to get fired.
And so I can't take any risk.
I'm gonna take away the books, etc.
Now, what's gonna happen if it's a crime they're not gonna go to the people who
are gonna go to the drag show aren't gonna go to the drag show.
People who are gonna participate in the drag show aren't gonna go because
they're worried that the brown shirts are gonna come arrest them because they
don't like who they are.
And Anna, you agree that the only reason they're passing this is because they're
saying we don't like people that do drag shows, come on, you know that.
>> I don't know if that's what they,
I think what they're doing is the right wing version of vert choose signaling.
And again, this is really important for
people to understand legislators are lazy and useless.
They don't want to do their jobs.
They want to do their fundraising.
They want to collect money from their corporate donors, but
they want to do zero nothing for you, okay.
But they love to engage in the theater and
the virtue signaling that makes it seem like they're real active.
They're really looking out for the best interests of their base.
Really it's nonsense.
The reason why I think it's redundant is because when you read the language of
the bill, it is specific in regard to what they're referring to.
I listed what I what the legislation says, strippers, go-go dancers, topless dancers.
All of this stuff is already banned for minors in the state.
You get what I'm saying.
It doesn't.
>> No, I do have interest only one that's vague and
it's the only one that applies there.
>> Okay. >> The drag shows.
>> So you say, well, they don't understand the difference between just a non sexual
drag performance and a sexual one, right?
Except they do because the governor was confronted about the fact that he dressed
as a woman when he was in high school, right?
So let's take a look at the picture.
This is what was uncovered I guess.
>> Misdemeanor next time it's a felony.
>> Okay, so he's they're.
>> Would you tell me Republicans aren't turned on by that.
It's inconceivable.
That's it prurient interest.
>> So that was, okay, hold on.
This is in 1977 when he was in high school apparently was homecoming week, I did go.
>> [INAUDIBLE] even more turned on now.
>> So he gets confronted about that, okay.
And and let's see how he reacted to it.
>> Do you remember dressing in drag in 1977, do you remember this?
>> What a ridiculous question that is conflating something like that to
sexualized entertainment in front of children, which is a very serious subject.
Andy what you got?
>> Is this you, is it okay if drag queens come to the school because this is you at
a high school governor?
This right here is you at a high school.
>> Yeah. >> Is it only
illegal when gay people do it governor?
Have you talked to your sister about the bill governer?
>> While the event photographed in the yearbook would meet
most definitions of drag.
It would not necessarily be illegal under Tennessee's newly passed drag bill,
which specifically bans male or female impersonators who provide
entertainment that appeals to a prurient interest from performing in public or
in front of children.
>> Okay, do you wanna bet $100 that they apply it to just
random drag shows and claim that they were sexual in nature?
>> Sure lets bet $100. >> Deal.
>> Deal. >> Okay, they're definitely gonna do it.
Easiest $100 I've ever made.
Why Anna because of the same reason you're saying because they're gonna use it to
virtue signal, they're gonna arrest drag queens.
They're gonna do.
>> Okay.
>> In spectacular fashion. >> They are not gonna arrest drag shows
are doing nothing wrong.
>> And they're gonna say we got them the evil LGBT community, we hate them.
And we showed you how terrible they are.
>> And by the way, look, if that's what your concern is, fine,
it's fine to be concerned about that.
But I also want you guys to be smart in understanding what the right wing is
doing in trying to bait us into appearing as
though we want little children watching hyper sexualized programming.
That is what this is also about, right?
So it's the illusion of governance which both right and left engage in it.
But this is a right wing example of it, right?
And then there's the left taking the bait and panicking and freaking out about this
without actually reading the legislation, the text of the legislation.
So then they can turn around and say, would you look at that,
told you the left wants to sexualized children right?
Adding fuel to that crazy QAnon fire.
>> Yeah, Anna is 100% right about that part too.
And so it's a trap that they said.
So it's the same thing they do on flag burning.
So they go, okay, we think you shouldn't be able to burn the flag even though it's
obviously a First Amendment issue.
And they claim that their First Amendment absolutist right.
They're total liars, but they say and we can't help and go, hey,
the constitution says you are allowed to burn a flag.
And they go they hate America right?
So it's a political trick.
So she's right it's definitely a political trick.
And so when we make but why do we all defend folks?
Whether it's the don't say gay bill in Florida and critical race theory and
all that, so why do we fall for the trap?
Because we want to defend people who are LGBTQ are citizens of any sort.
We wanna defend African Americans, we wanna defend all those people.
So they think [LAUGH] these suckers they're gonna fall for it,
they're gonna defend these poor people.
And when they fall into that trap will demagogue and
we'll get our base riled up to hate them.
And then go you see that in those sick thing is here you ever hear like those
terrorists that hold up kids in front of them and use them as human shields?
The Israeli defense forces do it sometimes when they go into Gaza Strip and West Bank
they'll pull Palestinian kids in front of them and have guns behind the kids.
Okay, so that's what they're doing here.
They're like we can't just say we're bigots.
So here grab a kid and they use the kid as a shield and then they go yeah drag
queens we hate them I mean it's a kid, I'm worried about the kid.