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Texas can enforce drag show ban; court suggests they don’t believe all drag shows would violate law
Texas law fines business owners $10,000 for hosting restricted drag shows and penalizes violators with a Class A misdemeanor, targeting sexually oriented public performances.
- On Thursday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled Texas can enforce its 2023 law limiting some public drag shows, noting not all drag performances are sexually explicit.
- Senate Bill 12 prohibits suggestive dancing and certain prosthetics on public property or before children, with some Republican lawmakers saying drag shows were the law’s target.
- Venue owner testimony described performers sitting on customers' laps wearing thongs and a revealing breastplate pulsing in people's faces, which the panel deemed arguably sexually explicit.
- The ruling immediately allows Texas to fine business owners $10,000 and pursue Class A misdemeanors, with Attorney General Ken Paxton praising the decision while the plaintiffs and the ACLU of Texas vowed to keep fighting.
- The appeals panel concluded the plaintiffs lacked standing as most failed to show intent for a 'sexually oriented performance,' while Judge James Dennis warned this risks First Amendment protections of artistic expression including drag.
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'Prosthetic breasts': Appeals court lets law banning sex shows in front of children take effect * WorldNetDaily * by Bob Unruh
Draq queen Lil Hot Mess performs for a children’s show for PBS affiliate WNET in New York City Expressing doubt whether explicit and graphic sex shows in front of children actually are protected by the First Amendment, a federal appeals court has allowed a Texas law barring those activities to take effect. “The law is not facially invalid unless its ‘unconstitutional applications substantially outweigh its constitutional ones,'” said a ruling fr…
·Medford, United States
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources8
Leaning Left2Leaning Right1Center5Last UpdatedBias Distribution63% Center
Bias Distribution
- 63% of the sources are Center
63% Center
L 25%
C 63%
12%
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