Several NGOs immediately challenged this legislation in federal courts, winning an injunction from Barack Obama appointee James M. Moody. The state appealed this ruling to the supposedly conservative 8th Circuit Court, who upheld Moody’s injunction. The 8th Circuits behavior was so surprising that even left-wing commentators expressed shock that the “most conservative, least diverse” federal appeals court in the country sided with the transgender movement against their own party. Following this decision, Act 626 has remained blocked and in limbo since October 2022, as Judge Moody repeatedly delays publishing a ruling.

In Tennessee, a different but related scenario developed. The Tennessee legislature passed the Adult Entertainment Act, which prevented “topless dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, male or female impersonators in presence of minors,” but this law was widely perceived as a response to the outbreak of transsexuals and crossdressers performing sexually suggestive shows for small children.

Federal courts in Tennessee have long established the precedent that laws strictly regulating the minutiae of heterosexual behavior among adults inside strip clubs do not violate the First Amendment, but Trump-appointed Judge Thomas Parker ruled that the new law was unconstitutional because it impedes on the right of crossdressing homosexuals to perform obscene strip shows for children in public.

nationaljusticeparty.com/2023/06/17/conservative-judges-are-overturning-bans-on-trans-mutilation-and-drag-queen-strip-shows/