It’s been a big week for the drag community in Texas after a judge blocked a controversial 2023 law that had imposed strict limits on public drag performances. The state’s Senate Bill 12 also threatened businesses with hefty fines for hosting certain drag events. Now, a federal judge has ruled the law unconstitutional, preventing it from being enforced across the state.
This week, U.S. District Judge David Hittner declared the law unconstitutional, according to several sites, such as NBC. This law, which had been in effect since 2023, wanted to penalize and fine people who would host drag shows or other events that would have people in suggestive clothing or dancing.
The law was extremely restrictive and was met with a lot of opposition, as people could get charged with a Class A misdemeanor and some places could receive fines of at least $10,000. Naturally, a lot opposed this law, and it seems it finally paid off.
According to the above source, Judge Hittner also told those who still opposed this to “just not go” to these events, calling it a “relatively simple solution.”
In any case, several people from the drag community have been celebrating this monumental win for them, especially since no one will enforce the law anymore, allowing drag events to be hosted again, as well as people celebrating without fearing for their safety or a hefty fine.
Texans Celebrate the End of the Anti-Drag Event Law
As soon as people saw the news, they flooded social media comments with praise, saying that it was about time for someone to block this extremely restrictive law.
“And all it took was three years.“
“I want to say that is why illegal laws need to have ramifications for the people that passed them, but with this US Supreme Court, they would make it ok for Republicans to ban Democrats from being in government. They would rule a law a Democrat passed as illegal and punish the Democrats as a whole. That is their MO.“
Others focused on what the Judge said pertaining to the solution of opponents not going to these events, which many believe might be a complicated solution for Republicans, as they allegedly don’t know about free will.
“Freedom of choice is a complicated concept for Republicans.”
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In the end, many Texans welcomed the ruling, arguing the law had gone too far and placed unnecessary restrictions on drag performances. For them, the judge’s decision marked a significant victory after years of legal battles over Senate Bill 12.
