Federal judge blocks new Ron DeSantis law banning children from attending drag shows
Federal judge blocks Ron DeSantis’ new law banning children from attending drag shows after ruling it is ‘unconstitutionally vague and too broad’ — after anti-woke governor threatened to invoke CPS on parents
- The law championed and signed by Governor Ron DeSantis banned children from attending ‘adult performances’
- U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell granted Hamburger Mary’s motion for a preliminary injunction
- The law can no longer be enforced until the restaurant, which has been hosting “family-friendly” drag shows for 15 years, ends its business
A federal court has blocked the implementation of a controversial Florida law that bans children from attending drag shows.
The law championed and signed by Governor Ron DeSantis was legally challenged by Orlando Restaurant Hamburger Mary’s, which has been hosting “family-friendly” drag shows for 15 years.
The law can now no longer be enforced until Hamburger Mary finishes litigating, after a federal judge issues a preliminary injunction.
Hamburger Mary’s challenge claimed that the law “prohibits protected speech based on the identity of the speaker” and is vague and too broad.
The state filed a motion to dismiss the case, but U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell rejected the move.
Hamburger Mary’s has been hosting “family-friendly” drag shows for 15 years and taking on the state
The preliminary injunction is a blow to Governor Ron DeSantis, who defended the law
Presnell agreed that the law is “unconstitutionally vague,” and instead granted the restaurant’s request for a preliminary injunction to stop regulators from enforcing the law.
“We are very pleased with this first win,” Melissa Stewart, a Memphis attorney representing the restaurant, said in a statement.
“This law is unconstitutionally vague, too broad and clearly aimed at transvestites.
“This preliminary injunction will protect First Amendment rights not only of our clients, but of the LGBTQ community across Florida as we move forward with the next steps in this litigation,” she added.
The new law prohibits venues from allowing children access to “any show, exhibition, or other presentation performed in front of a live audience that depicts or simulates, in whole or in part, nudity, sexual conduct, sexual arousal, specific sexual activities.” … lewd conduct, or the indecent exposure of prosthetic or imitation genitalia or breasts.”
If venues are found to have broken the law, regulators can suspend or revoke their licenses.
Presnell, who was appointed to the bench by President Bill Clinton in 2000, said the so-called Protection of Children law was “specifically designed to suppress the speech of drag queen performers” and that the state “already has statutes that protect” offering obscene behavior.
The judge said the law was ill-defined and “vulnerable to broad subjectivity.”
Melissa Stewart, a Memphis lawyer representing the restaurant, said she was “extremely pleased” with the “first win”
Trans rights protesters in Florida have opposed Ron DeSantis’ anti-drag law
A fully clothed drag queen with prosthetic breasts showing off her cleavage and reading children an age-appropriate story might be considered ‘evil’ – and therefore ‘lewd’ – by some, but such a scenario wouldn’t be the kind of obscene constitute conduct prohibited by the statutes” in previous case law, Presnell wrote in the 24-page judgment.
Presnell also drew attention to issues raised by the focus on “prosthetic or imitation genitals or breasts.”
He asked what the implications might be for cancer survivors with prosthetic genitals or breasts.
Presnell said the law also clashed with the Parents’ Bill of Rights and other laws.
“All parental rights are reserved to the parent of a minor child in this state,” he wrote, “including … the right to direct the upbringing and moral or religious education of his or her minor child.”