{"id":202621,"date":"2026-03-13T07:10:28","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T07:10:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/202621\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T07:10:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T07:10:28","slug":"federal-appeals-court-allows-texas-to-enforce-statewide-drag-ban-the-daily-texan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/202621\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal appeals court allows Texas to enforce statewide drag ban \u2013 The Daily Texan"},"content":{"rendered":"

A state law banning drag shows in the presence of minors in Texas will go into effect on March 18 after over two years of inactivity. While drag shows were banned<\/a> on University campus last year, this law applies statewide.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit overturned a federal court\u2019s order that declared Texas Senate Bill 12<\/a> unconstitutional on Feb. 25. The bill, which first came into effect in 2023, prohibits \u201csexually oriented\u201d performances in the presence of minors, including drag shows. The Fifth Circuit\u2019s decision will return the case to district courts for further evaluation, and the bill can be enforced in the meantime, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The bill allows the attorney general to civilly fine establishments up to $10,000 for hosting prohibited performances, according to the ACLU. Kevin Wyld, an attorney who specializes in LGBTQ+ law, said a violation of its rules is also a Class A misdemeanor, which is \u201ccomparable to drug possession\u201d and \u201cjust shy of a felony.\u201d<\/p>\n

If convicted for a class A misdemeanor, a person could face up to $4,000 fine and up to a year-long sentence in county jail.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe law\u2019s vague and sweeping provisions still create a harmful chilling effect for drag artists and those who support them, while also threatening many types of performing arts cherished here in Texas, from theater to ballet to professional wrestling,\u201d Brian Klosterboer, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Texas, wrote in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A chilling effect discourages people from self-expression due to fear of consequences or retaliation, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression<\/a>. Wyld said the bill\u2019s unclear language will likely slow down everything in the drag space, even the family-friendly shows it doesn\u2019t directly affect.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the law is vague and people can\u2019t figure out what it applies to, \u2026 then people are often going to err on the side of caution, and then the restriction winds up being broader than just what\u2019s written on paper,\u201d Wyld said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

West Campus co-ops like Pearl Street are known for hosting events and live music. Angel Ribbons, drag performer and New Guild Co-op resident, said they \u201cattract the artists\u201d and the \u201coddballs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ribbons said drag is \u201cthe performance of gender,\u201d and it should be protected within free speech and self-expression. She said it\u2019s becoming increasingly difficult to \u201cmaintain a queer space\u201d in Austin amidst this legislation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c(The bill is) a threat to art and drag performers, and censoring art is always bad,\u201d Ribbons said. \u201cThe real people that are at risk are trans people in their day-to-day lives, because we\u2019re not wearing it as a costume \u2026 that\u2019s ultimately who our community needs to protect in this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

This decision follows the UT System Board of Regents\u2019 ban of drag shows on university campuses in March 2025. It also comes after a 2025 release from Gov. Greg Abbott directing Texas agencies to \u201creject woke gender ideologies.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Because of the University ban, \u201cThe Rocky Horror Picture Show,\u201d a decade-long University tradition, moved<\/a> off-campus last year to the Pearl Street Co-op in West Campus to perform with no University funding or support, according to the event\u2019s fundraiser<\/a>. Maggie Cook, director and UT alum, said they were \u201cdevastated,\u201d and they \u201cfelt the responsibility\u201d to keep the show alive. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A state law banning drag shows in the presence of minors in Texas will go into effect on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":202622,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":{"0":"post-202621","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-austin","8":"tag-austin","9":"tag-austin-headlines","10":"tag-austin-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}