Overview
- A three-judge Fifth Circuit panel vacated a 2023 district-court injunction and reopened enforcement of Senate Bill 12 while the lawsuit proceeds.
- Only 360 Queen Entertainment was found to have standing, with pride groups and other plaintiffs dismissed for failing to show their events are likely covered by the statute.
- The majority voiced “genuine doubt” that conduct described in the record—such as pulsing prosthetic breasts or audience spanking—is protected speech when minors are present.
- SB 12 criminalizes certain “sexually oriented performances” in public or before minors and permits $10,000 civil fines for hosts along with potential Class A misdemeanor charges.
- Texas officials praised the ruling as protecting children, the ACLU and plaintiffs pledged to continue litigating, and the decision diverges from an Eleventh Circuit view on a similar Florida law, signaling further appeals.