BREAKING: Federal judge rules Texas anti-drag law is unconstitutional pic.twitter.com/ideph3BO7u
— BNO News (@BNONews) September 26, 2023
It’s the law in America that children have to be gay.
You simply cannot build a utopia if you allow parents to say “hey – I don’t want my son sucking cock until the 4th grade at least!”
The Texas legislature wants to ruin our democracy. Thankfully, judges have the ability to overrule popular opinion.
A federal judge in Texas ruled on Tuesday that the state’s new law limiting public drag performances was an unconstitutional restriction on speech and he permanently forbid enforcement of it.
“Not all people will like or condone certain performances,” U.S. District Judge David Hittner wrote. “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.”
More than a dozen states have sought to restrict drag shows over last year, with Texas one of at least four to pass restrictions into law, part of broader Republican efforts to regulate the behavior of LGBT people.
Hittner ruled that the Texas law was discriminatory and improperly vague.
He said drag performances were not inherently obscene, and were the sort of expressive speech protected by the US Constitution’s First Amendment.
Drag performers and Pride march organizers joined the American Civil Liberties Union in a lawsuit in Houston’s federal court seeking to block the law.
Honestly, the judge is probably right.
I don’t think it’s based on “the Constitution” as this vague permanent force, but it is in-line with existing case law on freedom of speech.
And, of course, the Greg Abbott Wheeled World of Weird Wonders probably understood that this was just a stunt, and that if you actually wanted to go against this, you would come at it from a different angle completely.
Cathedral of Hope in Dallas held a service blessing drag queens yesterday.
This isn’t LA, this isn’t Portland, and it’s not Eric Adams Sanctuary City. This is in the heart of Texas. pic.twitter.com/5wCnWL5IhL
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) September 18, 2023