Madonna has announced a new stop on her “The Celebration Tour” in Tennessee, with the intention of raising funds for LGBT organizations in response to anti-grooming legislation recently passed in the state.
“Excited to announce we are adding 8 more cities In the US for The Celebration Tour,” she wrote on Instagram. “Especially Happy to come to Nashville to celebrate Drag and the Trans community!”
She continued:
The oppression of the LGBTQ+ is not only unacceptable and inhumane; it’s creating an unsafe environment; making America a dangerous place for our most vulnerable citizens, especially trans women of color. Also, these so-called laws to protect. our children are unfounded and pathetic. Anyone with half a brain knows not to fuck with a drag queen. Bob and I will see you from the stage in Nashville where we will celebrate the beauty that is the Queer community!
Her announcement comes less than two months after the state passed sweeping legislation aimed at restricting transgender surgeries for those under 18 as well as a crackdown on drag queens performing for young children.
The bill reads:
This bill creates an offense for a person who engages in an adult cabaret performance on public property or in a location where the adult cabaret performance could be viewed by a person who is not an adult. The bill defines an “adult cabaret performance” to mean 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.
Earlier this month, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) also signed legislation banning transgender surgeries, hormones, and puberty blockers for those under the age of 18.
“The weight of these decisions is too heavy for children. As a society, we understand that minors need limitations, so we place many age restrictions on activities for children that can have lifelong consequences such as smoking, drinking alcohol, buying lottery tickets, and even getting tattoos,” bill sponsor Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson said earlier this month. “It is reasonable to also put age restrictions on these transformational elective medical procedures.”
A percentage of the proceeds from Madonna’s performance will go toward transgender and LGBT organizations, Rolling Stone reports.
Some may consider the timing of the pro-trans show as inappropriate after a 28-year-old transgender woman opened fire on students at a private Christian school in Tennessee which she had once attended. Six people have already been confirmed dead, including three children.
“There’s some belief that there was some resentment for having to go to that school,” Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake told Lester Holt of NBC News. “She targeted random students in the school … whoever she came in contact with, she fired rounds.”
REPORTER: "Do you have any reason to believe that how she identifies has any motive for targeting the school?"
NASHVILLE POLICE: "There is some theory to that."
REPORTER: "So was this a targeted attack?"
NASHVILLE POLICE: "It was." pic.twitter.com/NDfm9XBCcV
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) March 27, 2023
Madonna, meanwhile, has established herself as one of the entertainment industry’s many left-wing activists. Her most notorious foray into politics took place in 2017 on the day of President Donald Trump’s inauguration where she spoke of her desire to blow up the White House.
“Yes, I’m angry. Yes, I am outraged. Yes, I have thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House,” she said at the time. “But I know that this won’t change anything. We cannot fall into despair.” She later claimed her words had been taken out of context.
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