KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Editor's note: This story was updated from its original version to correct the spelling of Dana to Dasha.
On Monday, several groups gathered at a regular Knox County Commission meeting. Many people signed up to speak on two subjects: an incident in November when the Knox County Sheriff's Office said a 15-year-old cashier did not serve deputies, and national outrage over all-age drag show performances.
Neither of the subjects was on the agenda for the meeting.
KCSO Incident at McAlister's
A Knox County commissioner, Dasha Lundy, had previously called for people to speak at the commission meeting over the incident. It erupted into a community-wide controversy.
The mother of the server, who is the mother of Anthony Thompson Jr. who was shot by Knoxville police officers in 2021, called KCSO's comments untrue and said the cashier was nearing the end of her shift and went to ask a co-worker for help. The 15-year-old was later fired from the store over the incident.
"My intention was never to start a war because war leaves casualties. It leads us nowhere. It leads us to the path of hell," said Lundy. "Love is justice, justice is love ... It feels like we are in 1960 in Knox County, and I am ready to move forward."
One of the people who spoke was the former 15-year-old cashier at the center of the incident. The statement she gave during the public forum session is below.
"On Monday, November 21st, 2022, I had a 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. shift. Around 7:30 p.m. I was working at the register when I decided to ask one of my coworkers to take over. It just happened that the next person in line was someone with a badge," she said. "I overheard one of these customers ask my coworker if I did not take their order because they're officers. They then complained to my manager and were asked two more times if they would like to place an order.
"They replied, 'no,' and walked out. Immediately after this incident, Facebook posts were made and McAlister's received tons of angry phone calls. I do not apologize for doing my job and handling a situation with decorum and professionalism, which these officers did not do.
"Since then, I have lost my first job and watched my name and character be drug through the mud and destroyed via social media because of Kimberly Glenn, a communications director for Knox County Sheriff's Office who failed to do her job accurately and has yet to face the consequences of her actions.
"Kimberly Glenn's actions created an unsafe work environment not only for myself, but for my coworkers and customers at McAlister's. I leave you with this. Number one: if I was anything other than a brown girl, would this have happened?
"Two: was I targeted because of who my brother is? And number three: where's the accountability for those who choose to spread misinformation about me when I was only doing my job? When will they be held accountable?"
Commissioner Rhonda Lee chimed in at the end of the 15-year-old's statement.
"These officers have not been tried in a court of law. We don't know the whole story, there are two sides to every story," Lee said. "I am sympathetic to the teenager who came in here. But, I'm also sympathetic to our law enforcement who put their lives on the line every day to protect our community ... If we come in here and treat our law enforcement like this, shame on us."
Lundy capped off the discussion about the incident at McAlister's by saying she remembered earlier meetings where advocates were arrested following a meeting. KCSO said then that they had a warrant for his arrest stemming from a demonstration after the shooting of Anthony Thompson Jr.
"Today was really heavy, and I've been praying the whole that I won't be triggered. I think I'm officially triggered. Two years ago, when that boy got killed, the community came out and advocated. Guess what, they got arrested. That's why we got issues with law enforcement and the Black community," Lundy said. "It's like we always get ignored. this ain't no Back the Blue movement, this is not Black Lives Matter ... For some reason, we are so immature that we don't know what humanity is."
Upcoming Drag Show Performance at Tennessee Theatre
Another reason people gathered in the City County Building was to speak about an upcoming show at the Tennessee Theatre — "A Drag Queen Christmas." It is the latest show to be targeted as part of a national controversy over drag shows.
The show is returning for its eighth-consecutive year on Dec. 22. The show features drag queen performers on the stage, with chances for a meet-and-greet event. The Tennessee Theatre also said parental discretion is advised for the show.
The controversy comes after stories have circulated online framing the LGBTQ community as "groomers." Some outlets associated LGBTQ people with sexual abuse, positioning meetings and events as methods the community uses to coerce young victims.
The Anti-Defamation League said "far-right and extremist voices" launched the attacks in 2021 and fueled legislation aimed at erasing discussions of LGBTQ identities. Online searchers for the term also increased dramatically in that timeframe.
"I will never stop pursuing trying to do what is right," said Rhonda Lee, the seventh district commissioner. "I do not personally feel that this kind of entertainment is pleasing to my God, according to the translation that I have of his teachings."
The law director of Knox County, Michael Moyers, said that drag shows like the upcoming one at the Tennessee Theatre are protected by free speech laws. He also said that generally, county ordinances cannot be applied within Knoxville limits due to jurisdiction issues.
He specifically said the county could not block the show due to prior restraint issues as well. Prior restraint is a legal principle stating that law enforcement and government leaders cannot act to suppress materials that would be published or broadcast solely with the belief that they would break the law.
"I cannot think of anything reasonable that we can do that would satisfy the folks here," he said.
Gina Oster, the third district commissioner, said that she would want to act to ban shows like the upcoming show at the theater, and emphasized that county leaders have already taken steps to restrict them.
"Mayor Jacobs did not ask me to do this, but I'm going to do it. Everybody has said he has been quiet. He has not been quiet ... He was on the phone with the executive director of the Tennessee Theatre three months ago, when we found this out. This vendor is under contract with the Tennessee Theatre. The Tennessee Theatre is not putting this show on," she said.
She said Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs asked the vendor to put an age limit on the show, and the vendor refused. She said he then asked if they added that parental discretion was advised on the show.
"Our legislature is the one who's going to be in control of this," said Oster. "I've been on your side."
Soon after the midterm elections, Senator Jack Johnson introduced SB 0003, proposing an outright ban of drag shows on public property, or anywhere they could be viewed by children. The far-reaching bill could affect performances of many kinds.
Johnson said the bill is aimed at protecting children after he said sexually suggestive shows were held in public. He did not mention any show specifically. He also said the bill would apply anywhere children could be present — not just public spaces.
"I'm sick of being accused of being a pedophile, my whole life," said Randy Cross, who spoke at the meeting. "It needs to stop and we need to grow up and we need to accept people who are different than us."