Tennessee

A Federal Judge Has Temporarily Blocked Tennessee’s Drag Ban

Published

2 years ago

April 4, 2023

A Federal Judge Has Temporarily Blocked Tennessee’s Drag Ban

The day earlier than the nation’s first anti-drag regulation was set to enter impact, a federal choose briefly blocked it for violating the First Modification.

U.S. District Decide Thomas Parker issued the 15-page determination in Pals of George’s v. Tennessee on Friday. The plaintiff, a nonprofit group primarily based in Memphis that produces performances that includes drag, in addition to comedy sketches and performs, filed a movement to briefly block the regulation final Monday. The plaintiff argued that the Tennessee regulation is unconstitutional as a result of it’s a content-based restriction on speech, and since it’s overly obscure.

The regulation, as handed in February, bans “grownup cabaret performances,” together with “male or feminine impersonators,” from happening in public or any location the place the efficiency may very well be considered by a minor. A primary violation of the regulation is classed as a misdemeanor; subsequent offenses carry felony prices punishable by as much as six years in jail and a superb of as much as $3000.

The plaintiffs expressed a concern of prosecution, since its subsequent efficiency is about to happen on April 14.

“Within the meantime, Plaintiff has to attempt to promote tickets whereas deciding whether or not it ought to add a beforehand pointless age restriction, cancel the present, or danger legal prosecution,” the choice reads. “These should not trifling points for a theatre firm — definitely not within the free, civil society we maintain our nation to be. Defendants’ strategy would have Plaintiff, and people equally located in Tennessee, eat the proverbial mushroom to seek out out whether or not it’s toxic.”

The court docket sided with the plaintiff’s arguments that the regulation unfairly targets drag performers themselves, noting that Tennessee’s obscenity legal guidelines already cowl a lot of the bottom that the drag ban supposedly does. The court docket additionally agreed that the language of the laws was problematically broad, questioning the definitions of “public property” and “a location the place an grownup cabaret leisure may very well be considered by an individual who just isn’t an grownup.”

“Does a citizen’s personal residence rely? How a couple of tenting floor at a nationwide park?” the choice reads. “What if a minor looking the worldwide internet from a public library views an ‘grownup cabaret efficiency’?”

Accordingly, the regulation is blocked from implementation for 14 days, pending additional litigation. Pals of Georges issued a assertion on Friday celebrating the victory, with the group’s president of the board of administrators stating that they received “as a result of it is a dangerous regulation.”

“We look ahead to our day in court docket the place the rights for all Tennesseans shall be affirmed,” Campell stated. The assertion additionally notes that every Pals of Georges “raises hundreds of {dollars} for different Mid-South organizations that help or affirm the LGBTQIA+ inhabitants.”

Advocates have raised issues that the obscure language of the Tennessee regulation, and others prefer it, may very well be used to prosecute trans and gender-nonconforming folks merely current in public. At the very least 40 drag bans have been thought-about in state legislatures throughout the nation to this point this yr, in line with legislative monitoring performed by unbiased researchers Allison Chapman, Alejandra Caraballo, and Erin Reed.

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Tennessee

No. 1 Tennessee vs. No. 23 Arkansas: Game information, lineups, notes

Published

9 hours ago

January 4, 2025

Press Room

No. 1 Tennessee vs. No. 23 Arkansas: Game information, lineups, notes

Tennessee emerged from its non-conference slate unbeaten and has topped the major polls for four-straight weeks.

Now, the No. 1 Vols (13-0) begin their biggest challenge: SEC play.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM

Tennessee opens league action against No. 23 Arkansas (11-2) at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center on Saturday (1 p.m. ET, ESPN) in the first of back-to-back games against ranked teams and one with a number of intriguing storylines.

The Razorbacks, winners of four-straight, are led by a familiar face in John Calipari, who is in his first season after leaving Kentucky where he went up against the Vols in several notable games in the previous 15 years. Saturday also marks the return of former Vols forward Jonas Aidoo, now on the visitors side.

Aidoo will be facing a few of his former teammates, but Tennessee’s impressive start has been helped by the addition of two transfers of their own in starting guard Chaz Lanier and forward Igor Milicic Jr.

Lanier leads the Vols in scoring with 19.6 points per game and has scored 20-plus in six of 13 games, while Milicic is the team’s top rebounder, pulling down 8.2 per game.

The staples of Tennessee’s roster that were key in winning the league one year ago will again be key in its success in an SEC that has 10 teams ranked in the polls and 13 projected to reach the NCAA Tournament.

That includes the league’s assists leader in Zakai Zeigler and one of its most stingy defenders in Jahmai Mashack. And the bench, tested after the loss of JP Estrella to a season-ending injury and the abrupt exit for Cam Carr, has at least two proven options in Jordan Gainey and Cade Phillips.

How all of their contributions translate to what has proven to be the best conference in college basketball after a month and a half will soon be determined.

Here is everything you need to know about Tennessee’s SEC opener.

GAME INFORMATION

Who: No. 23 Arkansas (11-2) at No. 1 Tennessee (13-0)

When: Saturday, Jan. 4 | 1 p.m. ET

Where: Food City Center | Knoxville

TV: ESPN (Karl Ravech, play-by-play; Jimmy Dykes, analyst)

Radio: Vol Network (Bob Kesling, play-by-play; Bert Bertelkamp, analyst)

Series: 49th meeting all-time (Tennessee leads, 26-22)

KenPom: Tennessee 76, Arkansas 64

PROJECTED LINEUPS

NUMBERS EDGE

POINTS PER GAME

Arkansas 82.5

Tennessee 80.1

FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE

Arkansas 51.5%

Tennessee 48.9%

THREE-POINT PERCENTAGE

Arkansas 36.8%

Tennessee 35.5%

MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Three thoughts ahead of Tennessee basketball’s SEC opener vs. Arkansas

ASSISTS

Tennessee 16.8

Arkansas 16.8

REBOUNDS

Tennessee 38.9

Arkansas 36.2

BLOCKS

Arkansas 5.7

Tennessee 5.5

PREGAME NOTES

— Rick Barnes and John Calipari are meeting again as two of the winningest active head coaches in college basketball. Calipari is No. 1 among Division I coaches with 824 victories while Barnes is second with 819. Barnes is 13-12 vs. Calipari in head-to-head match ups.

— Tennessee will look to continue its success as the No. 1 team in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. The Vols are 13-2 all-time as the top-ranked team in the poll, and 12-1 under Rick Barnes, including a five-game win streak since jumping to No. 1 four weeks ago.

MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Rick Barnes assesses Tennessee basketball ahead of SEC play

— Tennessee and Arkansas’ non-conference schedule included three common opponents. The Vols went 3-0 vs. Baylor, Illinois and Miami, winning by an average margin of victory 10.0 points while the Razorbacks went 1-2 against those teams, beating Miami and losing to Baylor and Illinois at neutral sites.

— Arkansas guard Johnell Davis was listed as “probable” on the initial SEC availability report on Friday night. Davis hasn’t played since Dec. 14, sidelined by a wrist injury. Davis began his career at Florida Atlantic. He scored 15 points against Tennessee in the Sweet 16 in 2023. He is averaging 9.2 points with the Razorbacks.

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Tennessee

Arkansas basketball availability report – Tennessee week

Published

17 hours ago

January 4, 2025

Press Room

Arkansas basketball availability report – Tennessee week

The first availability report for Arkansas basketball’s (11-2, 0-0 SEC) matchup against the No. 1 Tennessee Volunteers (13-0, 0-0 SEC) was released by the Southeastern Conference on Friday.

Introduced over the offseason, availability reports will be filed one day before contests, with an additional update on game day.

According to the SEC, student-athletes will be designated as “available”, “probable”, “doubtful” or “out” for their next game. For additional clarity on game day, student-athletes will be designated as “available”, “game time decision” or “out.”

Below is the first availability report of the week ahead of Arkansas’ game against Tennessee, which will tip off at noon CT at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee:

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Tennessee

When is Miss America 2025? Where to watch the pageant who is representing Tennessee

Published

1 day ago

January 3, 2025

Press Room

When is Miss America 2025? Where to watch the pageant who is representing Tennessee

It’s time to crown a new Miss America.

On Sunday, Jan. 5, women from every U.S. state, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, will compete for the revered title of Miss America and its $50,000 scholarship.

Younger women, ages 13 to 18, will take the stage one day prior on Saturday, Jan. 4, for the opportunity to earn the Miss America’s Teen title and an equal scholarship.

It’s a more than 100-year-old annual competition. Miss America originated in 1921 in Atlantic City as the “bathing beauty revue,” according to Miss America. The first woman to win was Margaret Gorman.

Soon, another deserving woman will wear the iconic four-point crown, representing her qualities of service, style, scholarship, and success.

Here’s how to watch this year’s competition.

When is the Miss America pageant?

Miss America finals will begin at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 5. A coronation party is set to follow the event, according to the Miss America schedule.

When is the Miss America’s Teen pageant?

Miss America’s Teen finals will begin at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 4. A coronation party is set to follow the event, according to the Miss America schedule.

How to watch Miss America

The final round is set to air live across all time zones globally on YouTube as well as on PageantVision.com.

Replay videos of the preliminary rounds and talent competitions are also available for streaming on PageantVision through 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 5.

Where is the Miss America 2025 competition?

The Miss America organization hosts its scholarship competition at the Walt Disney Theater at the Dr. Phillips Center for Performing Arts in Orlando, Florida. The preliminary rounds of the competition began on Dec. 31, 2024.

Who is Miss Tennessee?

Carley Vogel, formerly Miss Music City, was crowned Miss Tennessee in June of 2024. She is a student at Middle Tennessee State University, majoring in music business with a minor in musical theater. Vogel is also a sister of Zeta Tau Alpha.

She is a Donate Life Ambassador, where she helps to raise awareness for organ, eye and tissue donation, according to Donate Life Tennessee.

Already in the Miss America competition, Vogel won the Preliminary Talent award for her vocal performance of “Climb Every Mountain.”

Who is Miss Tennessee’s Teen?

18-year-old Leela Beaty is the current Miss Tennessee’s Teen titleholder.

Her community service initiative is “Lean on Us,” encouraging people to embrace their differences, according to Miss Tennessee.

Before being crowned as Miss America’s Teen, Beaty held the title of Miss Central Tennessee’s Teen.

Which previous Miss America winners are from Tennessee?

Kellye Cash is the only Miss Tennessee to win the Miss America title. She won Miss Tennessee in 1986 and was crowned Miss America in 1987, according to Miss Tennessee.

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