A federal judge has blocked Florida's new drag show law that bans minors from attending, calling the legislation extremely vague and unconstitutional.
The law is one of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' priorities and is part of the state's effort to prevent children from attending what they call "adult live performances." The Friday ruling was made by US District Judge Gregory Presnell in Orlando.
Florida's New Drag Show Ban
The decision comes only two days after a North Florida federal court overturned another DeSantis-backed law prohibiting gender-affirming care in the state from being covered by Medicaid.
The two recent developments undermine a high-profile new law many see targeting the LGBTQ community that the state governor, a GOP presidential candidate, pushed through Florida's Republican-led Legislature.
It was among 18 bills that either directly or indirectly targeted transgender life, ranging from a ban on preferred pronouns in the classroom to a law that governed which bathrooms people of the community were allowed to use, per the Tallahassee Democrat.
During the session, several hundreds of drag queens, accompanied by members of the LGBTQ community and allies from across the state, marched on the Capitol. Hamburger Mary's, an Orlando restaurant, challenged the drag show law, as it was known to have hosted such performances for the last decade and a half, including ones deemed "family friendly."
In court filings, attorneys for the restaurant said that Florida already has laws on the books that prevent minors from being exposed to "lewd, sexually explicit, obscene, vulgar, or indecent displays." DeSantis signed the new law that initially went into effect on May 17.
However, Presnell, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, blocked the law's enforcement, saying that the measure conflicted with a state law that guarantees the rights of parents to make decisions in the best interests of their kids.
Furthermore, the judge determined that while some people may consider a drag performer reading a children's book to a minor during a performance inappropriate, it does not necessarily constitute an obscene performance, according to Politico.
Banning Minors From Attending Adult Live Performances
Presnell added that current obscenity laws already provide the authority to protect kids from constitutionally unprotected obscene exhibitions or shows. In a statement, DeSantis' press secretary, Jeremy Redfern, said that the governor's administration believes that the judge's opinion was "dead wrong" and that they plan to appeal the decision.
The law comes as the DeSantis administration has taken several other actions against drag shows. Officials filed a complaint this year against the Orlando Philharmonic Plaza Foundation after the latter hosted an all-ages "Drag Queen Christmas" that lawmakers said was explicit.
Presnell supported his decision by calling out the "appetite for finding obscenity in drag performances" despite undercover agents attending such shows, reportedly concluding that none exists.
When the new law was signed and passed in Florida, experts were worried about how it would be applied because it was so vague and broad in scope. Under the legislation, people under the age of 18 years were banned from attending drag shows. GOP lawmakers also acknowledged that the unclear language could result in high school students being banned from attending plays such as "The Rocky Horror Show" or the musical "Hair," said The New Republic.
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