Florida has taken its battle to ban minors from drag shows to the Supreme Court.
The state’s Protection of Children Act will fine or revoke the licenses of venues that “knowingly” admit children to “adult live performances.”
The law defines “adult live performances” as “any show, exhibition, or other presentation in front of a live audience which, in whole or in part, depicts or simulates nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or specific sexual activities … lewd conduct, or the lewd exposure of prosthetic or imitation genitals or breasts.”
The law was blocked by a federal judge who issued a preliminary injunction against it in June, claiming that it violates the First Amendment, after a lawsuit was filed by an Orlando restaurant called Hamburger Mary’s.
The restaurant holds drag brunches and claims that the law is hurting their business.
Now, the state is asking that the injunction only apply to Hamburger Mary’s while the case continues.
According to a report from Tampa Free Press, Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation Secretary Melanie Griffin has sent an emergency application to Justice Clarence Thomas requesting that the law be reinstated while the lawsuit in the state plays out.
“Florida is now unable to enforce its statue at all, to the detriment of Florida’s children and the State’s sovereign prerogative to protect them from harm,” Moody argued.
“Hamburger Mary’s has not alleged, much less proven, that application of the Protection of Children Act to others in the State of Florida will cause actual or imminent injury to Hamburger Mary’s itself. It was a serious error for the district court nonetheless to enjoin the statute as it may apply to the rest of the world,” the state’s court filings say.
Justice Thomas could act on the request alone or refer it to the full court for consideration, according to a report from The Hill.
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