A federal judge struck down a 2023 Texas law Tuesday, ruling that the state cannot enforce its drag show ban as it violated the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech while its definitions were so broad it could have landed the late Dolly Parton behind bars.
U.S. District Judge David Hittner, appointed by Ronald Reagan, ruled the measure, known as Texas Senate Bill 12, improperly restricted speech with its language that included banning any “sexually oriented performance to be presented on the premises in the presence of an individual younger than 18 years of age” in a Texas business.
LGBTQ+ advocacy groups and drag performers sued the state after the bill’s passage three years ago, arguing the ban on “sexually oriented performance” was overly broad and therefore unconstitutional, according to Courthouse News.
Judge Hittner, a member of the Southern District of Texas federal bench, previously sided with those opposing the law in his first injunction in 2023.
But the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that injunction late in 2025 and allowed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to resume enforcement, the legal news outlet also reported.
However, the appellate court also gave the judge instructions on how to reassess the statute, which Hittner now apparently has done with the new ruling.
The ruling again prevents Paxton, who is running for the U.S. Senate, from enforcing the law and denies his motion for a new trial, NBC and other news outlets reported.
Hittner also gave some advice to “those who find such activities as described in this case offensive.”
“The solution is relatively simple… just don’t go,” he wrote.
The state law called for business owners in violation of the statue to be fined up to $10,000 for hosting each event. Performers could be charged with a misdemeanor carrying a penalty of as much as a year in jail.
The judge based his new ruling on a U.S. Supreme Court decision Moody v NetChoice in its framework, Courthouse News reported.
Hittner blocked the state’s enforcement on two grounds: The definitions it relies on are “overly broad,” and the law is “an unconstitutional form of both content and viewpoint discrimination.”
Hittner pointed to three terms the law relies on: “visual performances,” “nude,” and “prurient interest in sex.”
According to Courthouse News:
Hittner wrote that, “Just as many people criticized Elvis’s signature hip gyrations and were offended by his display of male sexuality, chastised Dolly Parton as a voluptuous sex symbol because of her big hair, flamboyant clothes, and breast exposure, and shamed Miley Cyrus for ’twerking’ on stage during a live performance at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, there are ‘erotic’ elements in countless popular performances that could be subject to both civil and criminal penalties under S.B. 12.”
One of the plaintiffs in the case, a drag queen who performs under the name Brigitte Bandit, impersonates Parton in her performances. Parton reportedly even gave Bandit a rhinestone-covered guitar in 2023 at an Austin bar after she testified against anti-drag bills.
Hittner also wrote in his decision that the law was so overly broad, even activities such as “cheerleading, dancing, live theater, and other common public occurrences” could be treated as criminal acts.
In a statement on X, AG Paxton wrote he would immediately appeal Hittner’s ruling.
“This is a profoundly flawed decision that endangers our children and is an affront to Texas values,” Paxton wrote, adding he would “continue to fight to protect our kids.”
Breitbart contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the author of the New York Times true crime best seller House of Secrets and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.