Topline
Florida officials are taking their legal battle over a law restricting drag performances to the Supreme Court, asking the high court to reinstate legislation designed to bar venues from allowing minors to view some shows—the latest step in a nationwide battle over drag shows.
Florida is taking a legal battle over a law restricting drag performances to the Supreme Court. … [+]
Key Facts
In the filing, state officials requested a partial stay of a preliminary injunction issued in June that prevents them from enforcing the anti-drag law, arguing the injunction “inflicts irreparable harm” on children by blocking “a law designed to prevent the exposure of children to sexually explicit live performances.”
The application was filed last Thursday and docketed by the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Earlier this month, the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit denied the state’s request for a partial stay, which would have allowed the law to be enforced against establishments other than Hamburger Mary’s, a restaurant that first sued the state over the law.
Forbes has reached out to the Florida Attorney General’s Office for comment.
Crucial Quote
“As long as the district court’s preliminary injunction remains in place, Florida is powerless to enforce a law its elected representatives have enacted for the protection of its children,” read the filing to the Supreme Court.
Key Background
The drag law was first signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in May, joining a slew of laws restricting drag shows in GOP-run states, a movement sharply criticized by LGBTQ rights advocates and often linked to false claims that the events sexualize children. If it went into effect, the law would allow Florida to punish “public lodging establishment(s) or public food service establishment(s)” that allowed children into adult live performances, defined in part as shows showing or simulating nudity, sexual conduct or lewd conduct. The law doesn’t explicitly mention drag shows, but its backers explicitly cited drag as one of the law’s motivations. After the law was passed, Hamburger Mary’s sued DeSantis, the state of Florida and Melanie Griffin, secretary of the state’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation, arguing it had run “family-friendly” drag shows for more than a decade and alleging the law aims “to explicitly restrict, or chill speech and expression” allowed under the First Amendment, and would negatively impact its business. In June, a preliminary injunction was granted that prevented Griffin from enforcing the law until the trial played out. The state appealed that ruling and Griffin requested a partial stay, which would allow her to enforce the law against institutions other than Hamburger Mary’s; the partial stay was rejected in July, and that decision was upheld by a federal appeals court earlier this month.
Tangent
Florida isn’t the only state facing legal challenges around attempts to limit drag shows. Earlier this year, federal judges in Texas and Tennessee ruled that state laws limiting drag shows were unconstitutional. The Texas law was found to be vague and overbroad—two accusations made by critics of Florida’s law—and the judge said it “impermissibly infringes on the First Amendment and chills free speech,” the Texas Tribune reported.
Further Reading
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mollybohannon/2023/10/24/florida-takes-drag-show-battle-to-supreme-court-after-judge-halts-new-restrictions/