Court to Consider Drag Show Law

A federal appeals court next week will hear arguments about a 2023 Florida law aimed at preventing children from attending drag shows. A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear arguments Oct. 9 in Jacksonville. The state last year appealed a ruling by U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell that blocked enforcement of the law. Presnell said the law, which was challenged by Hamburger Mary’s, an Orlando restaurant and bar, violated First Amendment rights. Presnell ruled that the law is not “sufficiently narrowly tailored” to meet First Amendment standards and issued a preliminary injunction against it. The law, dubbed by sponsors as the “Protection of Children Act,” would prevent venues from admitting children to adult live performances. It defines adult live performances as “any show, exhibition, or other presentation in front of a live audience, which, in whole or in part, depicts or simulates nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement or specific sexual activities, … lewd conduct, or the lewd exposure of prosthetic or imitation genitals or breasts.”