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Judge Blocks Texas Drag Law as Unconstitutional · GNN Daily Breaking News

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  Speaker 1: A federal judge has once again struck down a Texas
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  Speaker 1: law aimed at restricting drag performances, ruling that the measure
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  Speaker 1: violates constitutional protections of free speech and expression. The decision
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  Speaker 1: is the latest in a series of legal setbacks for
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  Speaker 1: state officials who have sought to regulate drag shows under
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  Speaker 1: the banner of protecting minors. The law, passed in 2023,
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  Speaker 1: sought to classify drag performances as sexually-oriented businesses imposing restrictions
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  Speaker 1: on where and how they could be staged. It also
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  Speaker 1: threatened criminal penalties for performers and venues that allowed minors
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  Speaker 1: to attend. Supporters argued the measure was necessary to shield
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  Speaker 1: children from inappropriate content. But civil rights groups, performers, and
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  Speaker 1: venue owners challenged the law, saying it was overly broad, discriminatory,
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  Speaker 1: and designed to suppress LGBTQ plus expression. The judge agreed.
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  Speaker 1: ruling that the statute targets speech and artistic performance based
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  Speaker 1: on viewpoint, a violation of the First Amendment. This is
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  Speaker 1: not the first time the law has been blocked. Earlier
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  Speaker 1: injunctions halted enforcement while courts weighed its constitutionality. The latest
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  Speaker 1: ruling reinforces those findings, declaring the measure unconstitutional in its entirety.
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  Speaker 1: Advocates for drag performers hailed the decision as a victory
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  Speaker 1: for artistic freedom. Drag is performance art, protected like any
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  Speaker 1: other form of expression, one attorney said. They argue that
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  Speaker 1: the law was part of a broader campaign to stigmatize
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  Speaker 1: LGBTQ plus communities under the guise of child protection. Texas
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  Speaker 1: officials have vowed to appeal, insisting that the state has
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  Speaker 1: a compelling interest in regulating performances accessible to minors. Legal
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  Speaker 1: experts say the case could eventually reach the Supreme Court,
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  Speaker 1: testing the boundaries of free speech protections in the context
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  Speaker 1: of cultural and political battles. For now, drag performers in
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  Speaker 1: Texas remain free to stage shows without fear of prosecution
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  Speaker 1: under the law. The ruling underscores the judiciary's role in
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  Speaker 1: checking legislative efforts that collide with constitutional rights and highlights
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  Speaker 1: the ongoing national debate over LGBTQ plus visibility, artistic freedom,
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  Speaker 1: and parental choice.