Federal judge blocks Florida 'anti-drag' law
By: Rachel Tucker (WFLA)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A federal judge in Orlando has temporarily blocked the enforcement of a Florida law that opponents say stifles the free expression of drag artists, according to newly-released court documents.
On Friday, Judge Gregory A. Presnell ordered a preliminary injunction in response to a lawsuit challenging the bill, which was filed by a drag-themed restaurant, Hamburger Mary's, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed SB-1438, titled "Protection of Children Act," into law last month. State leaders say the legislation aims to shield children from obscene "adult live performances." Opponents of the bill say it is "anti-drag." Any business caught violating the statute is subject to fines and could have their operating or liquor licenses revoked by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR).
The lawsuit, filed by Hamburger Mary's, alleges that the bill "seeks to explicitly restrict, or chill speech and expression protected by the First Amendment based on its content, its message, and its messenger." The business claims it has been forced to cancel its family-friendly events and to censor themselves out of fear because the statute's language is "unconstitutionally vague and overbroad."
In his ruling, Presnell said the Protection of Children Act "is specifically designed to suppress the speech of drag queen performers." The judge quoted the bill's sponsor, Rep. Randy Fine, who said the legislation "will protect our children by ending the gateway propaganda to this evil — 'Drag Queen Story Time.'"
The defendants in the case, which include Gov. DeSantis and DBPR Secretary Melanie Griffin, filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. They alleged that the lawsuit is a "shotgun pleading," accusing Hamburger Mary's of throwing "a mish-mash" of legal arguments at the wall and seeing what sticks. The defendants also sought to dismiss the lawsuit because they claim the the suit lacks legal standing to bring the case and that the State of Florida and its governor are protected by sovereign immunity.
Presnell denied the motion to dismiss, saying Hamburger Mary's faces "a substantial risk to its licenses due to (the law's) vague and overbroad language." He specifically pointed out the terms, "live performance," "child," "lewd conduct," and "lewd exposure of prosthetic or imitation genitals or breasts" as examples of vague wording.
As justification for issuing the injunction, Presnell cited what he called "the Florida Legislature's failure to narrowly tailor (the law) and is its inevitable clash with the Florida 'Parents' Bill of Rights' and other laws."
The "Parents' Bill of Rights," dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" law by its opponents, states that: "All
parental rights are reserved to the parent of a minor child in this state…including…[t]he right to direct the upbringing and the moral or religious training of his or her minor child."
Presnell said the "Protection of Children Act" likely contradicts Florida Statute 847.013, which controls minors' exposure to "harmful motion pictures, exhibitions, shows, presentations, or representations." Specifically, the judge pointed to part of the law that "allows for a minor accompanied by his or her parents to attend any such exhibitions, regardless of the minor's age." Presnell compared a parent taking their child to a drag show to a parent taking their child to see an R-rated movie.
The "Protection of Children Act" was set to go into effect on July 1. Presnell ordered that Griffin and the DBPR must not enforce the law until the court can conduct a trial on the merits of the case.
In response to the ruling, a spokesperson for Gov. DeSantis said the following:
Of course it's constitutional to prevent the sexualization of children by limiting access to adult live performances. We believe the judge's opinion is dead wrong and look forward to prevailing on appeal.
Jeremy Redfern, Press Secretary
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I believe this is the 3rd case in a row that Florida/DeSantis has lost or was put on hold or put on hold by the courts.
A good point made by the judge.
bible thumpers are working hard to get a f'n reality check...
They have been getting a lot of reality checks lately.
apparently those reality checks need to be more biblical or epic in nature...
LOL, works for me.
they were a lot more cooperative back when NA's were turning pilgrims into XL pin cushions...
It is good news for free speech, especially since the judge turned the tables on the "Don't say gay" act and used the language of that bill as justification. To wit:
That was hilarious, the judge gets a big ''atta boy''.
So their defence is they can do whatever the hell they want?
We better hope the scumbag never gets the office of the president.
Sure seems to be the case.
Oh, this is outstanding. These regressive dummies have shot themselves in the foot. Under this law, if a parent wants to take their kids to drag shows, they have the right.
It seems that the DeSantis law team isn't up to par, they got burned by Disney now this and a couple of others. A really big screw-up with the new board that DeSantis installed to ''oversee'' Disney has totally screwed up the negotiations with the fire department who have now turned against the DeSantis board. It a comedy of errors on the regressive dummies.
a house of cards on a shaking table...
Yet all DeSantis talks about is ''culture war'' BS he has stated no policies other than destroy leftists.
Recent polling shows that he is now upside down with Hispanic voters. Not a good sign at all.
I think Rhonda has bigger issues to worry about …
LOL