Overview
- An appeals panel vacated a 2023 injunction against Texas Senate Bill 12, allowing the state to enforce restrictions on “sexually oriented performances” as the case returns to the trial court.
- The court held that only 360 Queen Entertainment has standing to challenge the law, finding other plaintiffs’ events did not appeal to the prurient interest in sex and removing most defendants from the case.
- Judges instructed the district court to reassess the facial First Amendment challenge under Moody v. NetChoice, focusing on whether unconstitutional applications substantially outweigh lawful ones.
- The majority signaled “genuine doubt” that acts described in the record—such as pulsing prosthetic breasts or audience spanking—are protected expression in the presence of minors, while a partial dissent warned against conflating drag with obscenity.
- SB12 imposes up to $10,000 fines on hosts and potential Class A misdemeanors for performers; Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton praised the decision, and the ACLU-backed plaintiffs said they will continue to fight the law.