On Monday (March 27), Madonna announced that she would add eight dates to her upcoming “Celebration” tour in the United States, including one on December 22 in Nashville, Tennessee. The 64-year-old particularly emphasized this date in the associated Instagram post. The reason for this is that the government there passed a law in early March prohibiting the “public” performance of drag performances. It also prohibits sex reassignment treatments on minors.
In protest at this particular procedure and the larger trend it fits into, the singer wrote:
“The oppression of LGBTQ+ is not only unacceptable and inhumane; it creates an unsafe atmosphere; it makes America a dangerous place for our most vulnerable citizens, especially non-white trans women. Also, these so-called child protection laws are unfounded and pathetic. Anyone with half a brain knows not to mess with drag queens. Bob and I will see you from the stage in Nashville celebrating the beauty of the queer community there.”
“Bob” means Bob the Drag Queen, a performer who will be supporting Madonna throughout the “Celebration” tour and apparently for this bonus date as well. She won the 8th season of the popular and influential drag television show RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2016.
The show’s profits will be donated to local organizations that support members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Madonna joins a tradition of criticism of such laws, which aims at their mostly vague formulation. The uncertainties they create result from the fact that, in the case of Tennessee, for example, observers fear that a broad interpretation of the regulation could lead to state enforcement of a restrictive dress code in public spaces. Banning minors from receiving gender reassignment treatments also deprives those diagnosed with gender identity disorders and who experience them on a daily basis of a tried and tested way of dealing with it.
A rampage in Nashville
Their show of solidarity comes at a bad time. Shortly after Madonna posted the announcement, a shooting spree occurred at a Christian elementary school in Nashville. A 28-year-old person by the name of Audrey Hale shot dead six people there on Monday (March 27). Hale is known to have been born with female-read biological gender and has been using masculine pronouns for some time. The police have not yet shared a theory about the motive (as of March 28, 12:06 p.m.). In the meantime, a number of people have formed on social media who want to understand his actions as those of a trans man. They also accuse Madonna of supporting violence with her announcement. The singer has not yet commented on it.
The “Celebration” tour begins on July 15 and takes the “Queen of Pop” to Germany for four concerts.