JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — Tonight, Yasmine Nicole will put on her black wig, a black-and-red skintight leotard and high-heeled ankle boots, then envelop herself in a scarlet satin gown. Her crystal rhinestone cuff bracelets will glimmer under the incandescent spotlights. She’ll cartwheel, somersault, handstand. Dollars will billow in the air as the loudspeakers thunder “Bounce Back,” a pop track by the British girl band Little Mix.

When she drops to the ground in a split, the ballroom floor will thud with the force of her dreams. Some 600 adoring souls will scream their approval, revering the skill, the dedication, the opulence.

How would you feel, Yasmine asks while getting ready backstage, with a dusting of makeup powder sitting atop the bridge of her nose, if you drove to work one morning, only to find out your job was illegal?

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“What would you do?” she asks, tapping her eyelids with a makeup sponge to create a fog of magenta and indigo eye shadow. “And how would you feel if your livelihood was trying to be ripped away from you, the way that you eat every day?”

On Saturday, drag shows on public property — such as this one, taking place Friday at East Tennessee State University — were supposed to become illegal. A law enacted by the Republican-controlled legislature bans “male or female impersonators” from performing “adult-oriented performances that are harmful to minors” anywhere it “could be viewed by a person who is not an adult.”

Tonight’s show is the...

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