By Nathaniel "Beltway" Steele
A federal judge in Texas has thrown out a state law restricting drag performances, and he did it with a nod to one of the state's most beloved entertainers.
U.S. District Judge David Hittner ruled Tuesday that Senate Bill 12, the 2023 measure Texas lawmakers passed to curb drag shows, cannot stand, according to the Los Angeles Times. In his opinion, Hittner cited Dolly Parton — describing her, per the Times, as "a voluptuous sex symbol" — in explaining why the law's approach to regulating gender-based performance could not survive constitutional scrutiny.
The law had been part of a wave of state-level measures in recent years aimed at drag performances, often framed by their sponsors as protecting children from sexualized content in public settings. Opponents argued the statutes were vague enough to sweep in ordinary theatrical and comedic performances, chilling protected speech under the First Amendment.
The available reporting is limited to the Los Angeles Times item, and it does not detail the full legal reasoning in Hittner's opinion, the state's likely response, or whether Texas plans to appeal to the Fifth Circuit — a court that has, in other contexts, taken an expansive view of state authority. Those are the open questions worth watching.
What's certain is this: a federal judge has again found that a state's attempt to police drag performance runs into constitutional trouble, joining similar rulings against comparable laws in Florida and Tennessee in recent years. The fight over SB 12 is very likely not over.
Read the footnotes. The story's always in the footnotes.
— Compiled from reporting by the Los Angeles Times.
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