US judge throws out Texas ban on drag acts, calls it unconstitutional

 | 
09/26/2023

Sept 26 (Reuters) – A federal judge in Texas ruled on Tuesday that the state’s new law limiting public drag performances was an unconstitutional restriction on speech and he permanently forbid enforcement of it. “Not all people will like or condone certain performances,” U.S. District Judge David Hittner wrote. “This is no different than a person’s opinion on certain comedy or genres of music, but that alone does not strip First Amendment protection.” More than a dozen states have sought to restrict drag shows over last year, with Texas one of at least four to pass restrictions into law, part of broader Republican efforts to regulate the behavior of LGBT people. Hittner ruled that the Texas law was discriminatory and improperly vague. He said drag performances were not inherently obscene, and were the sort of expressive speech protected by the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.

Share this:

Latest Global News

Added on: 09/06/2024
09/05/2024
Exactly six years ago, when the Supreme Court decriminalised Section 377 of the (then) Indian Penal Code to exclude consenting adult LGBTQIA+ persons from …
Added on: 09/06/2024
09/05/2024
LGBTQ activists in Ivory Coast expressed concern on Thursday over verbal and physical attacks fanned by social media targeting gay and transgender people. Anti-LGBTQ …
Added on: 09/06/2024
09/05/2024
Since 2021, 24 states have banned hormone therapy for transgender youth with gender dysphoria. Leading medical experts and organizations — such as the American Medical …

Explore LGBTQ+ Issues

Other News from ,

Added on: 09/06/2024
Since 2021, 24 states have banned hormone therapy for transgender youth with gender dysphoria. Leading medical experts and organizations — such as the American Medical …
Added on: 09/04/2024
A new policy is limiting the changes transgender Texans can make when it comes to their identities. On Aug. 30, the Texas Department of …
Added on: 09/03/2024
Social acceptance correlates strongly with legal protections for LGBTI individuals, according to a new report from the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of …