Tennessee Republican Governor Bill Lee has found himself embroiled in quite the scandal as an old yearbook photo appearing to show the staunch GOP leader dressed as a woman has resurfaced amid Lee’s warpath towards signing an anti-drag show bill into law in the Conservative state.
Over the weekend, Reddit user JoeyBagOWaffles, took to the Political Humor subreddit with a photo that they claimed was a resurfaced yearbook picture of the now-Republican TN governor dressed in drag.
“As Tennessee moves forward to ban drag, enjoy a high school yearbook picture of Tennessee Governor Bill Lee in drag (Franklin High yearbook 1977, page 165),” the Reddit post reads. The black and white photo appears to show Lee wearing women’s clothing with the caption, “Hard Luck Woman.”
As Tennessee moves forward to ban drag, enjoy a high school yearbook picture of Tennessee Governor Bill Lee in drag (Franklin High yearbook 1977, page 165)
by u/JoeyBagOWaffles in PoliticalHumor
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Unsurprisingly, the image spread like wildfire across social media, almost instantly going viral, as the Right-wing governor prepares to effectively shut down the drag show art form in the state of Tennessee.
Tennessee Democrat Christopher Hale took to Twitter with the photo and wrote, “Tennessee Governor Bill Lee is set to sign a bill that bans and criminalizes drag across the Volunteer State. Under this law, Governor Lee himself would face prosecution and jail time for his decision to dress up as a ‘hard luck woman’ in high school. Nice legs though!”
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee is set to sign a bill that bans and criminalizes drag across the Volunteer State.
Under this law, Governor Lee himself would face prosecution and jail time for his decision to dress up as a “hard luck woman” in high school.
Nice legs though! pic.twitter.com/Rwc4KhkzFF
— Christopher Hale (@chrisjollyhale) February 26, 2023
Lee’s anti-drag bill, dubbed SB 03/HB 09, has already passed the state’s Senate and House with just a few details and differences set to be ironed out, and Lee has made it crystal clear that he fully intended to sign it into effect as soon as possible.
The Tennessean writes of Lee’s disturbing legislation:
The legislation does not ban all drag performances from public or non-age restricted venues, but does prohibit them if found to be ‘harmful to minors.’ The bill’s Senate sponsor previously said it would be up to local prosecutors to determine how to apply the law. The bill’s House sponsor, however, has suggested that any drag performance should be considered inappropriate for minors. Opponents have argued that laws are already in place to prevent public obscenity and that the bill’s broad language will have a chilling effect on artistic performance and depictions of gender nonconformity.”
Lee has since personally addressed the scandalous, now-viral photo as he stood outside the entrance to Dr. William Burris Elementary School in Hendersonville, TN:
Conflating something like that to sexualized entertainment in front of children?
The bill specifically protects children from obscene, sexualized entertainment, and any attempt to conflate this serious issue with lighthearted school traditions is dishonest and disrespectful to Tennessee families.”
The local TN publication further notes that this is not Lee’s first run-in with scandals relating to his past attire found in old yearbook photos. Back in 2019, Lee expressed regret for attending “Ole South” parties during his time as an undergraduate at Auburn University, after a different yearbook photo went viral that showed the GOP leader dressed as a Confederate soldier.
Featured image via screen capture
