Charlotte von Mahlsdorf and the Importance of History
In March 2023, Tennessee governor Bill Lee signed the Tennessee Adult Entertainment Act, or the Tennessee drag ban, into law. The ban modifies section 2 of Tennessee Annotated Code § 7–51–1401 which governs the location and business hours of “adult-oriented establishments” and section 2 defines “Adult cabaret.” The drag ban defines an “Adult cabaret performance” as any performance not located in an “adult cabaret” that involves, among other things, “male or female impersonators who provide entertainment that appeals to a prurient interest.” However, a federal judge struck down the law, but similar laws remain in other states.
The language of the act is extremely vague, and as Sophie Perry points out, this vague language could have impacted “public Pride celebrations” and many other events, including theatrical performances of plays such as Doug Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize winning play I Am My Own Wife, a play about Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a trans woman who survived the Nazi and Communist regimes in Germany. I didn’t even know about Wilson’s play until I heard a recent story on NPR’s Weekend Edition about a recent performance of I Am My Own Wife by the Chinkapin Players and directed by Dashboard Schweizer. Hearing Schweizer talk about the play made me want to read it and learn more about Charlotte.
