Live from Music Row, Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed the Aaron Gulbransen, director of Tennessee’s Faith and Freedom Coalition, in studio to discuss the details of HB 009 which will protect kids from drag queen shows.
Leahy: Sticking around with us is our good friend Baxter Lee, who is our analyst for the mayor’s race here in Nashville. And joining us in studio, all-star panelist, official guest host, formerly our lead political reporter at The Tennessee Star.
Tennesseestar.com until he was stolen from us by the Faith and Freedom Coalition, where he’s now the Tennessee state director. He wasn’t really stolen. It was a big promotion for him. Mr. Aaron Gulbransen. Good morning, Aaron.
Gulbransen: How are you, sir? And good morning, Baxter.
Lee: Good morning, Aaron. I like the hat.
Leahy: He’s wearing a hat that says Tennessee Faith and Freedom Coalition.
Gulbransen: It’s red, white, and blue. Quick little thing. Obviously, when I go to government buildings, I dress up and wear a suit, but I typically dress appropriately for radio. Most of the time when people compliment my hat, I have to think for a second and go, wait, which of the 50 hats am I wearing?
Leahy: Plus you have a gray hoodie with a Detroit Red Wings symbol on it. I am a lifelong Detroit Red Wings fan.
Lee: A hockey fan. We have been focused over the past couple of days on the Memphis police for the beating death of Tyre Nichols. But last week, we were starting last Monday on the state Senate and now today for the Tennessee House of Representatives. The Tennessee General Assembly is in session. Can you catch us up on what they’re focused on? What are the big priorities right now in the Tennessee General Assembly?
Gulbransen: Specifically, today is actually a very big day in the General Assembly. At noon today, we have HB 009, which is the House version of the bill protecting children from drag queen performances. And it’s in the criminal subcommittee. The House sponsor of that is Representative Chris Todd.
Leahy: Chris Todd from the Jackson area.
Gulbransen: Who was the House sponsor of the right-to-work amendment to the Constitution of the state of Tennessee, which passed overwhelmingly. I was proud to support it. I’m also proud to support this bill.
Leahy: Let’s talk about this bill. What specifically does this bill do?
Gulbransen: It prevents children from being exposed to these drag shows. It also creates a criminal offense. On it, practically speaking, you’re going to probably see DAs once it passes and turns into the law because I’m pretty sure that’s what’s going to happen. You’re probably going to see district attorneys that say, I don’t know, Davidson County, Memphis.
Leahy: We will not prosecute this law! The drag queen show, the reason it’s considered objectionable is because the drag queens, at least from what I’ve read, engage in, shall we say, sexually suggestive activity.
I think there was some report that in one of them was just down in Chattanooga, where they had a drag queen show, and there were young children in attendance. And one of the drag queens suggested that this child touch a certain body part. Do I have that right?
Gulbransen: Yes. And there was another one in Cookeville. This is just my opinion. I think they’re putting them in; you’re like, why is there one going on in Cookville? I have no earthly idea. My theory is that they’re putting these crazy drag queen shows in conservative areas in an effort to bait the right or fringe members of the right into creating a ruckus.
Here’s what the caption reads. This introduction 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.
Leahy: Like in a brewpub or something. Which is a case down in Maury County. I see, Baxter, you’re just going, well, that seems like common sense, right?
Lee: Look, we don’t serve alcohol to minors either. There are certain things that minors, we protect kids.
Leahy: We used to protect kids in this law.
Lee: We still protect.
Leahy: This bill is designed to protect kids.
Lee: I would agree. I think we protect kids. This is the safest time to grow up in the history of the human species.
Leahy: Asterisk.
Gulbransen: We can talk about child trafficking, too, in a minute.
Lee: That was one of the shocking things. I think the Metro Police Department ended its human trafficking division.
Gulbransen: Actually, President Trump as an aside, and I think we should spend a little more time on this in another segment. That’s up to the host. I only pretend I’m in charge when he’s not here, by the way. (Leahy laughs)
Leahy: But you like being in charge, by the way.
Gulbransen: Who doesn’t? Let’s just be honest.
Leahy: Everybody would love to be in charge of a talk show so they can talk about what they want to talk about.
Gulbransen: Not everybody would be good at doing it.
Leahy: But everybody would like to do it.
Gulbransen: President Trump actually had a human and child trafficking task force that was summarily disbanded when Biden took office.
Lee: That’s right.
Gulbransen: Just to continue this topic. At let’s see here at 3:00 p.m., Majority Leader Jack Johnson, a good friend of the show and good friend to Tennessee Faith and Freedom Coalition, has his version, which is the same as they need to tell me what they’re calling it. But it’s like, protect the kids against drag queens. Protect kids’ eyes and brains.
Leahy: Eyes, brains, and body parts.
Gulbransen: It’s coming before the only committee that will be in.
Leahy: Do you think this is going to pass?
Gulbransen: It’s going to pass, and I think it’s going to pass as soon as possible. I will say, as a note, there have been a few people out there who are gadfly social media, the so-called commentators that are trying to take credit for these bills, and they have no reason you know who you are.
If you’re listening, stop taking credit for things you have nothing to do with. But that’s politics. Leader Johnson and Representative Todd have their bills up before a House subcommittee and a committee today also at 1:30 today, this made a lot of brouhaha because we had the rally to end transgender mutilation at the Capitol several months ago.
Matt Walsh had exposed misdeeds going on at Vanderbilt, and Leader Lamberth has in the House HB 001 has his ending transgender mutilation bill in the health subcommittee at 1:30 today. It’s pretty busy on those topics.
Leahy: I want to get that bill in just a minute, but let me just come back. I think forces on the left, the reason I think that they’re taking these drag queen shows to public libraries, particularly in conservative areas and in brewpubs in conservative areas, is they are trying to normalize deviant behavior. That’s what it is, basically. Because having a young child touch certain body parts in a public performance of drag queens, that’s deviant behavior, in my view.
Listen to today’s show highlights, including this interview:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Background Photo “Tennessee State Capitol” by Andre Porter. CC BY-SA 3.0.
