Drag show limits cropping up in Texas spur suit from ACLU

HOUSTON (CN) — A Texas law targeting drag shows is so vague it could be construed to prohibit any hugging and kissing in musical theater or other shows, the ACLU Foundation of Texas says in a federal lawsuit seeking to block the statute from taking effect.

Going into this year’s legislative session, Republican lawmakers in the Lone Star State said they wanted to protect children from “disgusting” and “hyper-sexualized drag performances,” including “Drag Story Hours” at public libraries meant for audiences of all ages.

But critics say the sweeping obscenity bill that resulted from these efforts regulates a vast range of “sexually oriented performances,” even if they are held on private property for audiences who are all adults.

Set to take effect Sept. 1, Senate Bill 12 imposes criminal penalties of up to a year in jail and fines of $4,000 and $10,000 for allowing sexual oriented performances with anyone under age 18 in the audience.

It also gives prosecutors, municipalities, counties and the Texas attorney general discretion to cancel events that they believe will feature performers engaging in prohibited sexual conduct.

The ACLU filed suit late Wednesday to have a federal judge in Houston enjoin the law. Representing two nonprofit LGBTQ advocacy groups, two drag show production companies and a drag performer, the groups allege violations of the First and 14th Amendments.

Lead plaintiff The Woodlands Pride Inc. says it hosts one of Texas’ largest free Pride Festivals every year in its namesake town, The Woodlands, a northern Houston suburb.

The group says the festivals are its largest event and fundraiser, with the 2022 iteration generating almost $100,000 in revenue.

All prior festivals hosted by The Woodlands Pride were open to all ages, according to the complaint, and prominently featured drag performers wearing accessories or prosthetics like wigs, makeup, high heels, earrings and padded bras.

But since SB 12 bars “the exhibition of sexual gesticulations using accessories or prosthetics that exaggerate male or female sexual characteristics,” Woodlands Pride fears that the township will deny it a permit to use a park where it had planned to hold this year’s pride festival, scheduled for Oct. 21, 2023.

Woodlands Pride and the other plaintiffs say SB 12 is part of a movement by Texas GOP state lawmakers to clamp down on LGBTQIA+ Texans.

“This year, the Texas Legislature introduced approximately 145 bills seeking to curtail LGBTQIA+ rights,” the lawsuit states.

And the bigotry is not just coming from Republican lawmakers, Woodlands Pride says in the lawsuit.

The group says in July, weeks after Republican Governor Greg Abbott signed SB 12 into law, its members marched in the South Montgomery County Fourth of July parade, with some of them holding hands, waving pride flags and wearing tutus.

After that event, Woodlands Pride says, activists went to the local township’s board meetings and complained about the group’s inclusion in the parade, accusing its members of being “groomers and pedophiles.”

The ACLU contends that SB 12 expands the definition of barred sexual conduct to include activities that are protected by the First Amendment.

So broadly written is the law, the group claims, it could outlaw a performer giving a friendly hug to another person on stage, and lead to a jail sentence to a performer who has a wardrobe malfunction on stage and accidentally shows a small part of their skin.

Angela Colmenero, who is interim Texas attorney general, is named as a defendant to the lawsuit, alongside The Woodlands Township, the Texas counties of Montgomery and Taylor, and several district attorneys.

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