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Posted on 08/26/2026 9:20:30 AM PDT by Ennis85
A federal judge in Texas struck down a 2023 state law Tuesday that sought to restrict drag shows, ruling it was unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge David Hittner, a Reagan appointee, said the measure, known as Texas Senate Bill 12, improperly restricted speech, violating the First Amendment of the Constitution. The ruling prevents state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is running for the Senate, from enforcing the law and denies his motion for a new trial.
In the ruling, Hittner also had advice for “those who find such activities as described in this case offensive.”
“The solution is relatively simple ... just don’t go,” he wrote.
Paxton’s office did not immediately reply to a request for comment Tuesday night.
The state law would fine business owners who were found to be in violation up to $10,000 for hosting events, while performers could be charged with a Class A misdemeanor, which could result in up to one year of jail time.
The statute, which has been the source of a yearslong legal battle, has made its way to Hittner’s courtroom before. Hittner first deemed it unconstitutional and a violation of the First Amendment in 2023, but the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals returned it to him in November, lifting a pause on the law and giving him specific instructions about how to reassess it.
It went back into effect last year following the appeals court ruling.
Texas is among a handful of states that have passed legislation to restrict drag shows.
Hittner struck down the law Tuesday after having followed the framework the higher court asked him to follow.
In his ruling, Hittner mentioned Dolly Parton, whose death was announced Tuesday, and criticized the law’s definition of banning performances that “[appeal] to the prurient interest,” citing people who would chastise Parton “as a voluptuous sex symbol because of her big hair, flamboyant clothes and breast exposure.”
“There are ‘erotic’ elements in countless popular performances that could be subject to both civil and criminal penalties under S.B. 12,” he wrote.
One of the plaintiffs in the case, a drag queen who performs under the name Brigitte Bandit, impersonates Parton in her performances.
Bandit celebrated the ruling on social media Tuesday, posting a screenshot of the decision and captioning it, “Drag is free speech, b----.” She announced she would also perform as Parton, who gave her a rhinestone guitar as a gift in 2023, at an Austin bar Saturday in her honor.
Hittner added that the law was so overly broad as to lead even activities such as “cheerleading, dancing, live theater, and other common public occurrences” to be treated as civil or criminal violations. He also said that the law was vague on its face and that it failed “to give a reasonable person notice of what is prohibited.”
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No drag shows where children might reasonably be found. Schools, libraries, etc. That would be a good law.
Otherwise, the judge is correct. “Just don’t go.”
Reasonable time, place, manner restrictions always work.
How about a law indicating that bringing a minor to a drag show, or performing one in front of them, is contributing to the delinquency of a minor?
“just don’t go”
Well that’s really not the damn point now is it
It’s from Ken Paxton
He’s never going to be interested in wasting time and resources to stop privately run drag shows
A simple google search of original request
“The 2023 Texas state law in question is Senate Bill 12 (SB 12), which sought to restrict “sexually oriented performances” on public property or in the presence of minors
The Original Request / Intent of the LawGoal: Proponents and state leaders stated the law was requested and designed to protect children from being exposed to sexually explicit or illicit content.
Prohibitions: It aimed to ban performances featuring nudity or sexualized dancing/prosthetics on public grounds or where individuals under 18 are present.
I cannot believe that NBC News would attempt to mislead people
The Judge seems to have opened up his psyche and let the secrets if his "Id" go tumbling out.
Somebody has a unique way of handling this debauchery in my town.
A few years ago where I am a drag themed restaurant/bar burned to the ground under mysterious circumstances.
Investigations really couldn’t pinpoint a cause but guessed it “might have been” faulty wiring.
There was another one on the other side of town that went out of business recently.....I’ve always wondered if the second one decided to shut down before something mysteriously happened to it as well.
At any rate, as far as I know, there’s not a lot of this drag mental illness in my county.
“ I cannot believe that NBC News would attempt to mislead people
The headline makes it sound like Texaco Star Theatre, Joel Grey, and “Some Like It Hot” would be outlawed.”
Ya not only tge headline, people here respond to it as such
As if Paxton is Huey Long or some TV preacher from 1994
It ain't a HER.
It's like laws banning heterosexual perverted shows in front of children. Except the gay lobby left insists that their junk be done in front of kids.
This is a bad decision
The law did not ban drag shows, it banned the use of public libraries and schools from presenting LGBTQ thyme Drag Queen Story Hours
Don’t go???
What if it is a parade on main street?
I don’t think this judge understood the very important distinction. We are not talking about Adult entertainment being offered exclusively to Adults alone.
I shamed an annoying brother in law and his cop best friend one night by slipping into the big oyster shell parking lot of a big drag nightclub in Dallas one night after we were already buzzed, and I got them inside without them knowing what was going on, after letting them whoop it up and talking them into standing in our booth to really show their feelings for the foxy ladies on stage, so that the entire bar would know their loud and lustful exuberance, I told them what the “ladies” were and what kind of loud nightclub it was.
It was a nice payback for the jerk the cop had been all night.
Just like a communist rally what could it hurt huh.
/s
It’s a bullsht ruling.
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