Appeals court says Texas can enforce drag show ban, suggests not all drag shows violate state law

A federal appeals court has ruled that Texas can enforce a law that prohibits drag shows in residents or when children are present although the ruling indicates that the judges do not believe all drag shows would be restricted under the measure Senate Bill bans drag performers from dancing suggestively or wearing certain prosthetics on society property or in front of children Business owners could face a fine for hosting these performances and performers who violate the law could be slapped with a Class A misdemeanor A three-judge panel in the Fifth U S Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday reversed an earlier decision by a district court returning the occurrence to the district court according to The Texas Tribune In Thursday's decision the judges ruled that the majority of the plaintiffs which included a drag performer a drag production company and pride groups were not located to have planned a sexually oriented performance meaning they could not be harmed by the law that seeks to restrict sexually explicit dances the outlet announced COURT STRIKES DOWN OHIO SCHOOL S PRONOUN PROTOCOL IN WIN FOR PARENTAL RIGHTS GROUPThe ruling also suggests that the court does not believe all drag shows are sexually explicit and therefore are not impacted by the ban In September U S District Judge David Hittner ruled that the law was unconstitutional writing that it impermissibly infringes on the First Amendment and that it is not unreasonable to believe it could affect pursuits such as live theatre or dancing Critics of the ban have previously argued that GOP lawmakers were attempting to label all drag shows as sexually explicit as Republicans continue to target the performances in Texas and several other states The court exposed that performances described by a drag production company are arguably sexually explicit although the ruling does not specifically state which actions were included APPEALS COURT ALLOWS ARKANSAS' FIRST-IN-THE-NATION BAN ON GENDER TRANSITION CARE FOR MINORS TO BE ENFORCED When demanded whether the performers 'simulate contact with the buttocks of another person ' the owner testified that the performers sit on customers' laps while wearing thongs and one performer invited a 'handsome' male customer 'to spank her on the butt ' the ruling announced When inquired whether the performers ever perform gesticulations while wearing prosthetics the owner testified that in Queen s majority up-to-date show a drag queen wore a breastplate that was very revealing pulsed her chest in front of people and put her chest in front of people s faces ' Judge Kurt Engelhardt also wrote in a footnote that there is genuine doubt that these actions are literally constitutionally protected especially in the presence of minors He was joined by Judge Leslie Southwick while Judge James Dennis disagreed That gratuitous dictum runs headlong into settled First Amendment jurisprudence and threatens to mislead on remand Dennis wrote in his partial dissent The court also removed the bulk of the defendants from the situation before sending it back to the district court to reconsider a part of the measure that centers on the Texas attorney general s job in enforcing the law Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton praised the ruling saying in a news release that he will inevitably work to shield our children from exposure to erotic and inappropriate sexually oriented performances It is an honor to have defended this law ensuring that our state remains safe for families and children and I look forward to continuing to vigorously defend it on remand before the district court he explained The plaintiffs and the ACLU of Texas which represents the plaintiffs described the ruling as heartbreaking adding that they plan to continue fighting the law We are devastated by this setback but we are not defeated they declared in a joint message Together we will keep advocating for a Texas where everyone including drag artists and LGBTQIA people can live freely authentically and without fear The First Amendment protects all artistic expression including drag We will not stop until this unconstitutional law is struck down for good