Ban on Texas drag shows ruled unconstitutional - WOAI

U.S. District Judge David Hittner originally declared Senate Bill 12 unconstitutional in September 2023, just months after the Texas Legislature passed it. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later unblocked the law in November and sent the case back to Hittner with specific instructions for reassessment.

Hittner reassessed it and landed in exactly the same place. His new order found Senate Bill 12 unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds. The law had placed restrictions on certain public drag performances across Texas, meaning venues and performers in Lubbock faced the same legal uncertainty as those anywhere else in the state while it was in effect.

For people here who either support or oppose the law, the ruling means Texas cannot enforce those restrictions again, at least for now. Performers and venues that altered their bookings or programming around the law's requirements are once again operating without that legal pressure.

This is the second time the same federal judge has reached the same conclusion on the same law, and the state's path to enforcement runs through an appeals process that already sent the case back once.