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A screen shot from a drag show in Austin, Texas. (@TaylerUSA / Twitter Screen Shot) Texas lawmakers have passed a bill that prohibits “sexualized performances and drag shows in the presence of a minor.”
The bill is now being sent to Republican Governor Greg Abbott’s desk for a signature.
The legislation, Senate Bill 12, passed with an 87-54 vote.
The bill applies to performances containing nudity and “the exhibition or representation, actual or simulated, of sexual acts,” or performances that appeal “to the prurient interest in sex … regardless of whether compensation for the performance is expected or received.”
The Daily Wire reports, “If the legislation is signed into law, performers who violate the law could be charged with a Class A misdemeanor and punished with a $4,000 fine or one year in jail. Meanwhile, businesses caught hosting such performances could be fined as much as $10,000.”
Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said of the bill, “It is shocking to me that any parent would allow their young child to be sexualized by drag shows.”
“Children, who cannot make decisions on their own, must be protected from this scourge facing our state,” Patrick continued.
Rep. Matt Shaheen, who sponsored the bill, echoed the sentiments, saying, “We will not tolerate our children being exposed to explicit, hyper sexualized content from any type of performer in any way in the great state of Texas.”
If signed by Gov. Abbott, the law will go into effect on September 1, 2023.
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