The Supreme Court has blocked a Florida bill that banned family-friendly drag performances. The bill, passed earlier this year, attempted to put limits on drag performance art by barring children from being present at drag shows and events. It was challenged by a popular restaurant chain, Hamburger Mary’s, in May when they sued the state claiming the law violated First Amendment rights. In June, a federal judge blocked the law calling it “dangerously susceptible to standardless, overbroad enforcement.”
Many laws passed by Ron DeSantis have been blocked for their violation of constitutional rights. Perhaps the most infamous is the “Stop-WOKE” Act, which attempted to restrict how lessons on race and gender are taught at higher education institutions. That law was blocked in 2022 and called “positively dystopian,” by a federal judge.
A statement detailing the Supreme Court’s decision on the drag ban revealed that conservative Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, “addressed the First Amendment complexities of the case and said the case was an ‘imperfect vehicle’ for deciding some of the questions at the center of the dispute,” according to CNN.
According to Pink News, many of the Justices, including Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Clarence Thomas said they would’ve allowed the bill to pass. Barrett and Kavanaugh went on to say the final decision revealed “nothing about our view on whether Florida’s new law violated the First Amendment.”
This bill is not the first of its kind. Conservative Gov. Ron DeSantis has ushered in a swath of anti-LGBTQ legislation during his three terms as governor, many of which directly target the trans community and LGBTQ+ culture like drag.
The rejection of another DeSantis attempt to worsen the lives of LGBTQ+ people represents a huge win for the gay community in Florida.
