Federal judge strikes down Texas drag ban

Texas drag ban plaintiff Brigitte Bandit
Photo: Brigitte Bandit

A federal judge in Texas has ruled that the state’s law aimed at banning drag performances is unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge David Hittner’s Tuesday ruling strikes down the anti-LGBTQ+ law, permanently preventing Texas from enforcing it.

As the Texas Tribune reported, Hittner found that the language in Texas’s Senate Bill 12 discriminates on the basis of view point and is overbroad and vague. The law, Hittner wrote, “impermissibly infringes on the First Amendment and chills free speech.”

“Not all people will like or condone certain performances,” Hittner wrote in his decision. “This is no different than a person’s opinion on certain comedy or genres of music, but that alone does not strip First Amendment protection.”

SB 12 was introduced and passed by Republicans in the Texas legislature earlier this year and signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott (R) in June. The law criminalized “sexually explicit” performances…

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