Almost as soon as Gov. Bill Lee (R-TN) signed a bill criminalizing drag show performances in certain public locations, local civil rights advocates vowed legal action against any alleged abuses of the law.

Kathy Sinback, the Americal Civil Liberty Union of Tennessee's executive director, argues "drag is protected by the First Amendment" in a statement to the Washington Examiner, adding, "We anticipate" filing a lawsuit over future alleged abuses of the measure.

WHITE HOUSE SLAMS TENNESSEE GOVERNOR OVER DRAG SHOW BILL: 'RIDICULOUS POLICIES'

"We will challenge enforcement of this law if it is used to punish a drag performer or shut down a family-friendly LGBTQ event," the Tennessee division of the civil rights group tweeted Thursday, just hours after Senate Bill 3 was signed into law.

The term "drag" is not present in SB 3 but instead provides the definition of "adult cabaret entertainment" to mean "adult-oriented performances that are harmful to minors." It also says "male or female impersonators" constitutes adult cabaret among "topless dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers ... or similar entertainers."

But proponents of the law worry about ambiguity spread across varying public drag performances and that there aren't clear indications between "family-friendly" events and ones that stand more adjacent to obscene or objectionable content.

Republican state Rep. Jack Johnson, a co-sponsor of the Tennessee bill, said the law is intended to protect "kids and families and parents who want to be able to take their kids to public places," adding, "We're not attacking anyone or targeting anyone."

Under the law, so-called adult cabaret performances are banned within 1,000 feet of schools, houses of worship, or public parks. Those violating the law may be subject to a misdemeanor charge carrying up to a $2,500 fine and one year in prison. Repeat offenders will incur a felony and carry one to six years of prison time and fines up to $3,000.

President Joe Biden 's press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, briefly addressed the matter during the White House briefing on Friday, likening the law to a "larger pattern from elected officials who espouse freedom and liberty but apparently think that freedom of speech only extends to people who agree with them."

Unlike most bills signed into law, SB 3 was amended earlier this year to take effect on April 1 rather than July 1, meaning the law will be enforced ahead of the June LGBT Pride month. Each year, people who celebrate the monthlong event gather in public parks and outdoor venues in Nashville, a city that has hosted drag shows as early as the 1970s.

Sinback said the law is written "so narrowly" and that "your typical drag performance is nowhere near obscenity," adding, "It's already illegal to expose minors to obscene material" and performances.

Johnson contends with his legislation, arguing that "no matter what radicals say, I am proud to be a relentless defender of Tennessee kids." He also introduced separate legislation that passed Thursday, which prevents prescribing "hormone treatment" for minors.

Last fall, state lawmakers and members of the First United Methodist Church in Jackson attempted to halt a public drag performance that was billed as a family-friendly event. After threats of legal action, the event moved indoors.

City attorneys and the group that hosted the event, the Jackson Pride committee, said indecent exposure did not occur during the show. Still, the possibility that there might have been was a major concern for Englewood Baptist Church pastor Adam Dooley, who spoke at an adjacent prayer rally that assembled in response to the show. Dooley later acknowledged the LGBT group's right to assemble can't be infringed based on a "possibility" of a violation.

Several states, including Idaho, Kentucky, North Dakota, Montana, Oklahoma, and Utah, are considering similar drag-related restrictions. The Arkansas governor recently signed a bill that puts new restrictions on “adult-oriented” performances. The bill initially targeted drag shows but was later scaled back after complaints of alleged LGBT discrimination.

Supporters of states' legislation curbing public drag performances hope such laws can withstand First Amendment tests should they ever be challenged in court by groups such as the ACLU.

Jerry Cox, president of Arkansas-based Family Council who was a supporter of his state's drag restrictions, told the Washington Examiner that Tennessee's SB 3 "sounds a lot like what our law here started out reading like" before it was "changed into mostly a public indecency type bill, where to be in violation of it the person would have to be nude or seminude."

Cox believes it's still "up in the air" about how states with similar legislation will enforce such laws while still working within the confines of the First Amendment but said he knows local communities "in the middle part of America" may not find public drag performances in line with community standards.

"It's hard to say that a man dressed up like a woman reading a book is somehow a sexual performance," Cox contends. "But then it's pretty easy to say that a man dressed in a thong with prosthetic breasts being exposed, parading down the street, is probably not appropriate."