Florida judge temporarily blocks DeSantis’ law banning children from drag shows

A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked a new Florida law championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis that would punish venues for allowing children to attend drag shows.

“The state claims that this statute seeks to protect children generally from obscene live performances. Rather, this statute is specifically designed to suppress the speech of drag queen performers,” US District Judge Gregory Presnell wrote in his ruling, obtained by Politico.

“Existing obscenity laws provide Defendant with the necessary authority to protect children from any constitutionally unprotected obscene exhibitions or shows.”

Presnell, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, granted the preliminary injunction stopping the law from being enforced until a trial is held to determine its constitutionality.

He also denied a Florida licensing and regulatory agency’s request to dismiss it.

The bill was signed into law by DeSantis last month as the Republican presidential hopeful passed a bundle of what critics have called anti-LGTBQ legislation, including a ban preventing transgender people from using public restrooms that don’t align with their sex at birth and restricting discussion of personal pronouns in schools.

The law targeting drag shows claims to be protecting children from “lewd conduct” that could be presented at the performances, which DeSantis previously alleged “sexualize” kids.

Though the law did not mention drag shows specifically, the sponsor of the legislation said it was aimed at those performances.

Any venue found to be allowing children into “adult live performances” could be slapped with a first-degree misdemeanor under the law, as well as having liquor licenses suspended or revoked.

The law was legally challenged almost immediately after it was passed by the popular Orlando restaurant Hamburger Mary’s, which had hosted “family-friendly” drag shows on Sundays. The new Florida law has forced them to ban children from all shows.

The restaurant, in its lawsuit against the Sunshine State, claimed the state is depriving the business of its First Amendment rights to free expression by including vague language, which Presnell agreed was “not unfounded.”

Presnell noted that the law didn’t define “live performance,” which could include anything from a burlesque show to “a skit at a backyard family barbecue.”

With Post Wires