Texas law banning drag shows where children may be present struck down again

A federal judge has, for a second time, struck down a Texas state law banning drag performances in settings where children may be present.In a ruling issued on Tuesday, US district judge David Hittner said Texas cannot enforce its drag show ban. He said that the measure improperly restricts speech and violates the first amendment of the US constitution.The Texas ban, known as Senate Bill 12, was passed in March 2023 and bans drag performers from dancing suggestively or wearing certain prosthetics on public property or in front of children, or “sexually-oriented performance” presented on the premises in the presence of an individual younger than 18 years of age.Advocacy groups sued the state after the bill’s passage, arguing the ban on “sexually oriented performance” infringed on constitutional rights. Texas’s move was just one across several states in 2023, driven by a right-wing backlash to increasing queer and transgender rights and equality. Hittner initially declared the ban unconstitutional in September 2023, but it was unblocked by the 5th US circuit court of appeals in 2025, which returned the case to the judge.That allowed Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, who is locked in a race for a US Senate seat against Democrat James Talarico, to resume enforcing the law earlier this year.The new ruling prevents Paxton from enforcing the law. Paxton said he would appeal the decision. “This is a profoundly flawed decision that endangers our children and is an affront to Texas values,” Paxton on X.In his ruling, Hittner advised anyone “who find such activities as described in this case offensive” to “just don’t go”.The ruling mentioned Dolly Parton, who died on Tuesday, when it critiqued the law’s definition of banning performances that “appeal to the prurient interest”. Hittner cited 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 SB 12,” Hittner wrote.Hittner said the terms used in the legislation were so broad they could block performers like Lady Gaga or Miley Cyrus from performing in the state.Drag queens Maxine LaQueene and Brigitte Bandit applaud against Senate Bill 8, known as the bathroom bill, a testimony during the Texas house of representatives’ state affairs committee on 22 August 2025. Photograph: Austin American-Statesman/Hearst Newspapers/The Austin American-Statesman/Getty Images“Even if S.B. 12 were somehow content-neutral (an argument the Attorney General has never advanced), it still prohibits huge swaths of constitutionally protected performances. Because the term ‘prurient interest in sex’ is open-ended, SB 12 can be used to cherry-pick particular aspects of performances that might be ‘in some sense erotic’,” Hittner wrote.He said that because the law was very broad it caused some everyday activities, including “cheerleading, dancing, live theater, and other common public occurrences” to be regarded 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”.Civil liberties groups welcomed the ruling. “Drag has a rich history as a refuge of joy and liberation for countless Texans, and it’s not going anywhere,” said the Texas chapter of the ACLU in a statement.“All Texans – no matter our gender or background – are guaranteed the right to free expression,” it added.Brigitte Bandit, a plaintiff in the case who impersonates Parton, celebrated the ruling on social media. “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.