A federal judge in Houston, Texas has once again ruled that Texas’ law restricting sexually explicit performances in the presence of children is unconstitutional, preventing Attorney General Ken Paxton from enforcing the measure.
US District Judge David Hittner of the Southern District of Texas issued the ruling Tuesday, 25 August. Paxton, who is the Republican nominee for Senate in the state in this year’s midterm elections, has already announced that he will appeal the decision to the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Texas Scorecard reports.
The law at the centre of the case, Senate Bill 12, regulates sexually oriented performances on public property and in the presence of minors. Critics have referred to the legislation as a ‘drag show ban’. Enforcement responsibilities fall to the Office of the Attorney General and local governments.
Hittner previously blocked enforcement of SB 12 before it took effect in September 2023. At the time, he determined that the legislation represented an unconstitutional restriction on protected speech.
The original lawsuit was filed by drag performer Brigitte Bandit, along with other individuals and businesses involved in the drag industry. The plaintiffs argued that SB 12 violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution by restricting free speech and using language that was excessively vague.
The case later reached the Fifth Circuit. In November 2025, the appeals court vacated Hittner’s earlier injunction, allowing Texas to enforce the law while the underlying constitutional claims continued to be considered by the district court.
The Fifth Circuit also instructed Hittner to dismiss the claims against the other defendants, leaving Paxton as the sole defendant. Two plaintiffs were additionally found not to have standing because the activities they intended to conduct were not ‘arguably proscribed’ by SB 12.
The remaining plaintiffs are Bandit, Extragrams LLC, and 360 Queen Entertainment LLC.
On remand, the district court was instructed to determine whether Section One of the law violated the First Amendment on its face. That provision prohibits a person controlling the premises of a commercial enterprise from allowing a sexually oriented performance to take place in the presence of anyone under 18.
Hittner has now answered that question in the plaintiffs’ favour.
‘The Court concludes that Texas Senate Bill 12 violates the First Amendment as incorporated to the State of Texas by the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution,’ Hittner wrote in his ruling. He subsequently ordered the Texas Attorney General to be ‘immediately and permanently enjoined’ from enforcing SB 12.
Paxton responded by announcing that he would immediately appeal the ruling to the Fifth Circuit, which previously issued a decision favourable to the state in the case.
‘This is a profoundly flawed decision that endangers our children and is an affront to Texas values,’ Paxton wrote on X. ‘I will appeal this decision immediately and continue to fight to protect our kids.’
Brady Gray of the Texas Family Project also criticized the ruling, writing that it was the second time Hittner had ruled in favour of the plaintiffs and against what Gray described as legislation intended to protect children.
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