Judge blocks Florida's new drag show law

TALLAHASSEE – A federal court blocked Florida's new drag show law, ruling the state's effort to bar children from attending "adult live performances," is overly vague and likely unconstitutional.

The decision Friday by U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell in Orlando comes only two days after a North Florida federal court overturned another Gov. Ron DeSantis-backed law prohibiting gender-affirming care in Florida from being covered by Medicaid.

The two decisions undermine a high-profile new law seen by many as targeting the LGBTQ community that DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate, pushed through the state’s GOP-controlled Legislature.

It was one of at least 18 bills that directly or indirectly targeted transgender life, ranging from a ban on preferred pronouns in the classroom to a law governing which bathrooms they could use. During the session, hundreds of drag queens, members of the LGBTQ community and allies from across Florida marched on the Capitol.

The drag show law was challenged by an Orlando restaurant, Hamburger Mary’s, which has hosted such performances for 15 years, including those it described as “family friendly.”

In court filings, attorneys for the restaurant argued that Florida already had laws on the books preventing minors from being exposed to “lewd, sexually explicit, obscene, vulgar or indecent displays.”

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The new law was signed by DeSantis and took effect May 17.

But in blocking its enforcement, Presnell, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, found the measure conflicted with a state law that guarantees the rights of parents to make decisions in the best interests of their children.

He also said it likely violated constitutional free speech guarantees and was too vague to enforce.

The judge raised doubts about state claims that blocking the law would “harm the public by exposing children to "adult live performances."

“This concern rings hollow, however, when accompanied by the knowledge that Florida state law presently and independently... permits any minor to attend an R-rated film at a movie theater if accompanied by a parent or guardian,” Presnell ruled.

State vows to appeal: 'Judge's opinion is dead wrong'

A DeSantis spokesman said the state will appeal.

"Of course it’s constitutional to prevent the sexualization of children by limiting access to adult live performances," said Jeremy Redfern, DeSantis' press secretary. "We believe the judge’s opinion is dead wrong and look forward to prevailing on appeal."

A similar law in Tennessee was overturned earlier this month by a federal judge citing similar free speech violations with that state's drag show prohibition.

Florida's law defines “adult live performances,” in part 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.”

It bars local governments from issuing public permits for events that could expose children to the targeted activities. Also, state regulators could suspend or revoke licenses of restaurants, bars and other venues violating the law.

The Florida law mirrored measures advanced in several other Republican-led states. It also came after the DeSantis administration had already imposed regulatory penalties on restaurants and bars mostly in South and Central Florida that had allowed children to attend drag shows.

The Hyatt Regency Miami hotel was threatened with the loss of its liquor license for hosting a “Drag Queen Christmas,” in December.

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Law 'designed to suppress the speech of drag queen performers'

Hamburger Mary’s is part of a national chain of drag-themed burger restaurants, with roots in San Francisco.

In challenging Florida’s law, the owners of the Orlando site said they were forced to cancel a Sunday series of family-friendly performances and that customers had already stopped coming to the restaurant.

In a Facebook post, the owners also said they thought the bill had nothing to do with children and “everything to do with the continued oppression of the LGBTQ+ community.”

In his ruling, Presnell seemed to share at least some of this thinking.

“This statute is specifically designed to suppress the speech of drag queen performers,” Presnell wrote in his 24-page decision. “In the words of the bill’s sponsor in the House, State Representative Randy Fine: (the legislation) will protect our children by ending the gateway propaganda to this evil – ‘Drag Queen Story Time.’”

Fine, a Palm Bay Republican, said the judge was taking some of his social media comments about the legislation "out of context."

"He should spend less time on Facebook and more listening to our legislative work," Fine said, adding he though the law would be upheld on appeal.

Supporters of the LGBTQ community, however, hailed the decision.

“This is another legal win for the people of Florida and for the First Amendment," said Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando. "I am thrilled with this outcome and it’s especially meaningful for a decision to be released during Pride Month too."

DeSantis has signed into law a ban on gender-affirming care for minors, restrictions on discussion of “preferred pronouns” in schools and a prohibition on using bathrooms that don’t match one’s assigned sex at birth.

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But this week, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle in Tallahassee struck down a newly-enacted measure that banned Florida’s Medicaid program from paying for gender-affirming care. Hinkle ruled that prohibition violated the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause and also the Affordable Care Act’s restriction against sex discrimination.

Hinkle also has clouded the future of the ban on gender-affirming care for minors, earlier this month blocking it in the case of three transgender youths whose parents had sued Florida on their behalf. The ruling raises the likelihood that the treatment ban could be struck down for all Floridians as legal challenges continue.

John Kennedy is a reporter in the USA TODAY Network’s Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jkennedy2@gannett.com, or on Twitter at @JKennedyReport

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Judge blocks new drag show law in Florida, a DeSantis priority