US Judge Uses DeSantis’s Law Against Him
Image: A federal judge has used presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis's own laws against him. Image: Ron DeSantis/Facebook
A US federal judge has done an uno reverse on Ron DeSantis, by using his own law to place a preliminary injunction on a drag ban.
US District Judge Gregory Presnell had cited previous laws passed by the Republican governor of Florida as part of his reasoning for the injunction.
In May, DeSantis signed the Protection of Children Act into law. In it is five transphobic and homophobic bills that include a bill that restricts trans people in the state, along with an expansion of the Don’t Say Gay law.
The drag ban law sees it outlawed for businesses and individuals from “admitting a child to an adult live performance.” However, due to the vague nature of the law others like cross-dressing cosplayers and Shakespearean actors could find themselves targeted by the law.
In response to the law, a family-friendly restaurant in Orlando called Hamburger Mary’s has sued the state’s administration, stating that the law “explicitly restrict or chill speech and expression protected by the First Amendment.”
“This bill has nothing to do with children, and everything to do with the continued oppression of the LGBTQ+ community,” the restaurant stated.
Judge Presnell sided with Hamburger Mary’s, agreeing that the state government has failed to firmly define the ban adequately. The judge also noted that the law hasn’t defined what counts as a “live performance,” which currently could refer to “a skit at a backyard family barbecue.”
Clash With Another Law
The judge had also raised the fact that another one of DeSantis’s laws clashed with the drag bran – the Parents’ Bill of Rights.
This particular law, when it was signed in July 2021, outlines that “all rights are reserved to the parent of a minor child in this state,” which include the “right to direct the upbringing and the moral or religious training of his or her minor child.”
“A fully clothed drag queen with cleavage-displaying prosthetic breasts reading an age-appropriate story to children may be adjudged ‘wicked’ – and thus ‘lewd’ – by some, but such a scenario would not constitute the kind of obscene conduct prohibited by [other statutes],” the judge had written.
