Again the devil is in the details of the bill. At first, it sounds normal, to protect kids from sex or nudity. But then the republicans give away the game by throwing in the words abnormal, unhealthy, degrading, shameful. All words the right wing fundamentalist religious haters use to describe men wearing clothing these religious people associate with female gender. This the goal, to outlaw men dressing as women or doing drag while keeping kids from seeing it in public normalizing it for them. Instead the point is to make men dressing as women and women as men to seem harmful and shameful. It is all about rolling back the advances in acceptance and tolerance in society of people who don’t follow the social norms of the 1950s, rolling back accepting of the LGBTQ+ people. Again this is an attempt by religious groups to force Christian moral dictates on the public. Look at what bills the people involved pushed, things like mandating the Christian 10 commandments in all schools forcing the Christian religion on all students regardless of their or their families religious affiliations. Hugs
The Texas Tribune reports:
The Texas House gave initial approval to a bill restricting children from seeing sexually explicit performances on Friday. Senate Bill 12 was originally designed to restrict kids from attending drag shows, but its most recent version seeks to criminalize any live performance that the bill defines as sexual.
It defines a sexually explicit performance as one in which someone is nude or appeals to the “prurient interest in sex.” SB 12 would fine business owners $10,000 for hosting such performances in front of kids. It would also slap performers violating the proposed restriction with a Class A misdemeanor, which could result in up to a year in jail, a $4,000 fine or both.
On Friday, Republican state Rep. Matt Shaheen of Plano cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s definition of prurient interests, which is defined as “erotic, lascivious, abnormal, unhealthy, degrading, shameful, or morbid interest in nudity, sex, or excretion,” though the language’s interpretation varies by community.
Read the full article.
The original version of the anti-drag bill has already passed in the state Senate, which will have to revisit the amended version.
Rep. Matt Shaheen [photo above] first appeared on JMG in 2015 when he introduced a bill to nullify LGBTQ protections statewide.
The author of the bill, GOP state Sen. Bryan Hughes, appeared here in April for his bill that would defund public libraries that host Drag Queen Story Hour.
In March, he appeared here for his bill to raise taxes on bars that host drag shows. A Texas lesbian bar has since been denied insurance.
Last year Hughes appeared here when his bill to force public schools to display “In God We Trust” posters went into effect.
In 2021, he appeared here for his bill banning criticism of white supremacy in history lessons.
RELATED: Several Pride organizations in Florida have banned drag performances or canceled events since DeSantis signed a similar bill that criminalizes shows that would potentially be within the view of children.
Scottie's Playtime 
As you say about the devil being in the details, and the true goal-agreed. What they want with this law is easily discerned.
But. The way it’s written-how it begins-did they not have such a law at all before this one? So who wasn’t concerned about “the kids” before drag queens became a target? (I know; they probably have in excess of 4 laws just like this one already on the books. It’s just that they get on these tears, and then it’s as if there has never been nudity or bawdy dancing or joking ever before this year, and it must be regulated to protect children. Sheesh. Write a damn gun law!)
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Hello Ali. Yes you make a great points. And of course there were obscenity laws in public places and nudity laws have been getting ever stricter to the point of putting someone who urinates in public on sex offenders registries. This goes back to the constant drive since the 1980s by the fundamentalist religious groups to drive the country to a Puritan mind set, these groups that started out as big TV ministries, you know those ministries that all the leaders went down in disgrace because they “sinned”. But you can look at their targets and how they framed it. In the 1980s it was social decency to protect the children by keeping the gays in the closet and not letting them be around kids. These groups drove the idea that nudity was somehow dangerous and that a child seeing a boob or a penis or even the butt will be damaged for life. They demonized the human body simply because of their warped view of sex and Adam / Eve. Hugs
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