For some inexplicable reason, the same people who like on-demand abortion hate laws intended to protect kids from sexual exploitation after they’re born, and they’ve been especially busy the last few months putting up roadblocks to the enforcement of several such laws recently passed by state legislators in Texas.
The latest development in this absurd contest is a ruling by a Reagan-appointed federal judge (read it below) finding that a law meant to protect kids from being exposed to lewd sexual performances violates the right to free speech guaranteed by the First Amendment.
After previously issuing a preliminary injunction against Senate Bill 12 before it could go into effect, 84-year-old U.S. District Judge David Hittner ruled this week that the law is unconstitutional because it “impermissibly infringes on the First Amendment and chills free speech.” Specifically, he determined the law is not narrowly focused and discriminates against certain content and viewpoints, creating a restraint on protected speech.
When the bill was debated in the Texas House, one Democrat lawmaker ludicrously suggested it could have the unintended effect of banning performances by the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders. Another taunted a witness testifying in favor of the legislation by feigning ignorance about drag shows targeting children, asking her where he could take his teenage daughter to one.
“That’s disgusting,” quipped Kelly Neidert, the executive director of Protect Texas Kids.
Although initial drafts of Senate Bill 12 specifically targeted drag shows, the final version contains no mention of the term. Due to concerns that courts would find the narrow application arbitrarily discriminatory and an infringement on freedom of expression, the law was expanded to prohibit “sexually oriented performances” at commercial establishments in the presence of children and on public property where they “could reasonably be expected to be viewed by a child.”
In response to the ruling, the ACLU of Texas—the organization representing the plaintiffs—bashed the law as a “drag ban” and proclaimed, “Long live Texas drag!”
VICTORY: A federal judge has declared Texas’ drag ban unconstitutional.
LGBTQIA+ Texans, venue owners, performers, and our allies all came together to uphold free expression in our state — and we won.
This work isn’t done but for now we celebrate. Long live Texas drag!
— ACLU of Texas (@ACLUTx) September 26, 2023
Austin-based drag queen Brigitte Bandit, one of the plaintiffs and an active opponent of Senate Bill 12 as it was being debated in the legislature, told local NBC affiliate KXAN, “My livelihood and community has seen enough hatred and harm from our elected officials. This decision is a much-needed reminder that queer Texans belong, and we deserve to be heard by our lawmakers.”
As with other laws passed to protect children from sexual exploitation, however, this one just seems like common sense. It’s hard to disagree after reading the following finding of fact in Judge Hittner’s ruling.
54. Brigitte Bandit sometimes dances, shimmies, shakes, and thrusts her hips, simulates kissing or “making out with somebody,” blows kisses, and touches herself and others during her performances. She fears multiple parts of her performances can be interpreted as “sexual gesticulations” or “imitating sexual acts.”
Does that sound like something kids should be exposed to?
Not unless you’re a pervert.
A spokesperson for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who was recently reinstated after being acquitted of bogus impeachment charges, said he plans to appeal the decision. Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, meanwhile, posted on X, “This story is not over,” perhaps a subtle jab at drag queens’ compulsion to read to children.
Democrats and their allies have also filed legal challenges to several other Texas laws intended to protect children.
Senate Bill 14, which bars “medical providers” from performing gender transition surgeries on children with gender dysphoria or giving them cross-sex hormones, was temporarily blocked by a state court before the Texas Supreme Court ruled it could take effect as scheduled on Sept. 1, pending a full trial next year.
House Bill 900, which requires vendors to flag sexually explicit books and prohibits schools from providing them to students, was likewise temporarily blocked by Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Alan Albright before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the order pending trial.
And House Bill 1181, which requires pornographic websites to verify that users in the state are at least 18 years old, was barred from going into effect by U.S. District Judge David Ezra, who—like Hittner—was also appointed by President Ronald Reagan. Again, however, the Fifth Circuit stayed the injunction until the case goes to trial.
I can’t think of a better response to these attempts to exploit children than what Neidert said to the Democrat lawmaker who joked about taking his daughter to a drag show: “That’s disgusting.”
HB 1181 Fifth Circuit COA Stay of Injunction by PJ Media on Scribd
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