Sen. Hughes bills prohibiting drag shows pass committee
AUSTIN, Texas (KLTV) - Two bills, authored by Sen. Bryan Hughes, (R-Mineola), that restrict and criminalize drag shows have passed senate committee.
SB 12 is a bill that prohibits “sexually oriented performances” from taking place on public property, or on the premises of a commercial enterprise in the presence of someone younger than 18.
SB 12 defines “sexually oriented performances” as any performance that features a naked performer, a person presenting as the opposite sex, or that appeals to the prurient interest in sex.
If one of these performances were to take place on public property or in the presence of someone younger than 18, those involved would be charged with a Class A misdemeanor. They are also liable for a civil penalty of not more than 10,000 dollars for each violation.
The bill has drawn ire from many in the drag and LGBT+ communities as they believe it unfairly targets drag shows, which they also believe are not inherently sexually oriented. Many members of these communities came to publicly testify against the bill at the committee meeting.
SB 1601 is a bill that prohibits municipal libraries from receiving state funding if they host an event where persons presenting as the opposite sex read books to children for the entertainment.
This bill was created in response to the recent popularity of “Drag Queen Story Hour” a nonprofit that has drag queens go to libraries to read books to children. As with SB 12 this bill was seen as unfair and many from the drag and LGBT+ communities publicly testified against it.
This bill was partly justified by Hughes with an incident involving Drag Queen Story Hour where one of the individuals that read to children was a registered sex offender.
Both bills passed with a vote of 6 ayes to 2 nays and will be presented to the full Texas Senate to be voted on.
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