Madonna is showing some support to LGBTQ community. The 64-year-old Queen of Pop has announced a Nashville stop on her “Celebration Tour” after Tennessee passes two bills targeting the community.
The “Like a Virgin” hitmaker plans to “celebrate” the LGBTQ+ community, after Tennessee became the first state to ban drag shows in public spaces on Thursday. On Monday, March 27, the pop icon turned to her Instagram page to share the news of her additional show in Nashville.
“Excited to announce we are adding 8 more cities In the US for The Celebration Tour! [dancing emojis] Especially Happy to come to Nashville to celebrate Drag and the Trans community!!” she began. “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.”
Madge went on adding, “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.” She then gushed that Bob the Drag Queen, who won the eighth season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race”, would see fans soon, writing, “Bob and I will see you from the stage in Nashville where we will celebrate the beauty that is the Queer community!”
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General sale for the Nashville concert, as well as newly added dates in Washington, D.C., Palm Springs, Sacramento, Phoenix, San Francisco, and Las Vegas, will begin Friday, March 31 at 10 A.M. local time. General sale for the Philadelphia concert will begin at 12 P.M. local time that day.
The announcement arrived after Tennessee criminalized drag performances on public property as well as in any private space where children are present. The law also requires drag performances to be more than 1,000 feet from schools, public parks or places of worship.
Tennessee’s laws criminalizing drag come amid a wave of anti-LGBTQ bills in conservative states across the U.S. According to NBC News, lawmakers in 16 states are considering legislation to ban drag performances, while Tennessee became the first to enact such laws.
The Tennessee law technically bans “adult cabaret entertainment” and does not explicitly use the term “drag,” but it does mention male or female impersonators and groups them in with strippers, exotic dancers and topless performers. The attacks on drag performances also come as several states have moved to limit gender-affirming care, both to minors and to adults and protesters have deluged drag performances.
Madonna herself has been a vocal advocate for the LGBTQ+ community and even received GLAAD’s Advocate for Change Award in 2019. “A big part of my history is intertwined with being an advocate for change,” the performer told the “Today” show at the time.
“It meant a lot to me, cause it’s not superficial … I had to try and stop crying a few times,” she continued. “I have a lot of memories over the last 30 years and fighting for change and being in the trenches.”
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