JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — A Johnson City LGBTQ club hosted a drag brunch Sunday in response to a Tennessee law banning drag shows around kids.
"This is something that the community supports and as you can see we're full so the community does support the issue," said Michael Trivette, the owner of New Beginnings.
Trivette says they're hosting the drag brunch to raise awareness of gun violence in schools.
"Typically, we don't do drag brunches, but I have heard several journalists talking about how the largest cause of death in schools is gun violence and yet, in response to that, our leaders seem to think the appropriate action is to ban drag queens which do nothing to harm children," said Trivette.
Trivette says this is a state-wide effort the club is usually closed on Sundays.
"We just wanted to do something to get the word out, to bring awareness. You see something, you say something. We saw an injustice and thought we would say something," said Trivette.
Jennifer Smith attended the brunch with her kids and says she's happy to support the cause.
"When I found out that they were doing a fundraiser for things that are actually endangering children, I couldn't not get part of that and having my kids being able to come meant a lot," said Smith.
Smith got emotional with News 5, a sister station with WBIR located in Bristol, explaining how she feels about the donations benefiting the community.
"It's something that actually matters, it's something that could make a difference, could protect kids from things that are actually endangering them. And it doesn't have to be a drag bar, it could be anywhere but because it is and because of the state of the U.S. being the way it is, it just meant everything to be able to have my family here," said Smith.
Trivette says they also received a $250 donation from the reality show, RuPaul's Drag Race. Club members say a total of $3,500 was raised from the Sunday brunch.
"The law is a done deal, it's already done and we can't change that, but we do have a voice and we have a vote. If we don't like the way our legislators or our governors we are trusting to make the laws to help in our communities, we don't like what they're doing, we have a voice," said Trivette.
The law is expected to take effect in April.