3/11/23

Dallas Band The Vandoliers wear dresses to protest Tennessee Drag Ban

The Vandoliers
The Vandoliers, a punk rock country music band from Dallas Texas.

The Vandoliers, a punk rock country music band from Dallas Texas performed in dresses while on tour in Tennessee. They did this in protest of Tennesse's drag ban just a few hours after the state's top drag queen, now a republican shill, Gov. Bill Lee signed it into law.

The law prohibits adult cabaret performances from taking place on public property or in any place where minors might be present, and it threatens performers with misdemeanor charges for breaking the rules — or even felony charges for repeat offenses.

Their propensity for social activism earned them a feature in the Rolling Stones posting on Instagram "Fuck a drag bill. 🖕🏽 Gonna auction off the dresses we wore on stage in Tennessee tonight and donate the money to a couple of LGBTQ charities in this state. Details soon. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️".

Vandoliers multi-instrumentalist Cory Graves said that it was originally his idea to wear a dress during the show as his own act of solidarity. But once the rest of the band caught wind of Graves' planned personal protest, they quickly decided to join in on the effort with him.

"Whenever I told our bass player, 'I'm gonna do this,' he was like, 'That's a good idea,'" Graves told WFAA. "And then I told our guitar player, and he was like, 'I'm doing it too.' And then our fiddle player's like, 'I'm doing it too!'"

It wasn't long before all six Vandoliers were on board.

The Vandoliers are currently on tour in Europe and the USA with appearances in Denton, and Fort Worth Texas. The very affordable tickets can be purchased thru their website.

This is the stuff legends are made of.

3/5/23

Gov Bill Lee to appear in Drag on Billboards across Tennessee

Gov Bill Lee Drag Bill Board
Anti LGBT Tn Gov Bill Lee who did drag in 1977, will appear on billboards similar to this mockup on electronic billboards

TN Governor Bill Lee signed into law a bill that would criminalize drag shows and transgender people who attend them.

And unbelievably Tuesday a state lawmaker requested an amendment to add "hanging by a tree" to a bill authorizing firing squads for state executions.

A Gofundme is raising money to put Bill Lee's drag performance on electronic billboards across the state. According to organizer Zachary Heath Stampera on Friday it raised $65,196 with a billboard scheduled for a performance on the following weekend.

If Bill Lee had performed in drag as he did in 1977 to audiences he knew minors were attending, he would have been guilty of violating the law he just signed and sentenced to years in prison. Lee became upset when questioned about his drag performances and tried to excuse it as 'light-hearted fun'.