5th Circuit clears Texas to enforce drag show law in front of minors, Paxton claims ‘major win’
An appellate court found on Wednesday that Texas can enforce a law regulating drag shows in public places and in the presence of minors, scrapping a lower court order that...
By Fox News · Fox News
An appellate court found on Wednesday that Texas can enforce a law regulating drag shows in public places and in the presence of minors, scrapping a lower court order that had enjoined the state from doing so. A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit reaffirmed its November ruling, saying Texas can enforce the 2023 law regulating "sexually oriented performances." The two-judge panel said only one plaintiff in the case had standing and sent the lawsuit back to the lower court to reevaluate the plaintiff’s First Amendment claim. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is a candidate for Senate, framed the decision as a "major win" in a statement on social media. "I successfully defended a law protecting children from being exposed to sexually illicit content at erotic drag shows," Paxton said. "I will always work to shield our kids from exposure to erotic and inappropriate sexually oriented performances." DRAG QUEEN STORY HOUR'S RADICAL ORIGINS AND THE SUBVERSIVE SEXUALIZATION OF OUR KIDS The lawsuit, brought by numerous self-described LGBTQ organizations, centered on a state Senate bill that defined sexually oriented performances as visual performances that feature a nude person or sexual conduct and "[appeal] to the prurient interest in sex." Under the law, a person could be prosecuted for causing a performance to occur in the presence of minors. Judge Kurt Engelhardt, an appointee of President Donald Trump , authored the opinion and was joined by Judge Leslie Southwick, an appointee of former President George W. Bush. The judges found that most of the plaintiffs, including a nonprofit called Woodlands Pride, did not have standing to bring First and Fourteenth Amendment challenges to the law because the groups’ performances were benign and therefore did not fall under the Texas law. The judges said, however, that a group called 360 Queen Entertainment did engage in performances, sometimes in the presence of minors, and therefore had standing. APPEALS…