Texas is facing two federal lawsuits over an anti-drag law, set to take effect on Sept. 1.
The new law, passed during the 88th legislative session, will criminalize performers who put on sexually explicit shows as well as businesses that host the shows when those performances happen in front of children.
Performers could end up in jail and businesses could face fines of up to $10,000 for violating the new law.
The ACLU of Texas and the Texas Civil Rights Project have both filed lawsuits to block the ban from taking effect.
“Drag is not a crime. Performing is not a crime. This has happened for decades,” Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce co-founder and CEO Tammi Wallace said.
Wallace’s organization joined a Texas Civil Rights Project federal lawsuit against the law, calling it an attack on First Amendment rights for those who perform.
“This is their livelihood and now they have to wake up on September 1 and go, ‘Am I going to be violating a law for simply doing my job?’,” Wallace said.
A plaintiff in the ACLU lawsuit includes The Woodlands Pride.
“The law is written in a way that could censor a large number of constitutionally protected performances, from touring Broadway plays and professional cheerleading routines to karaoke nights and drag shows,” the ACLU wrote in a statement.
In response to the lawsuit, Republican State Rep. Jared Patterson posted, calling the ACLU “a radical entity and the enemy of all Texans who cherish wholesome family values. Through a number of endeavors, they are seeking to protect those who wish to sexualize and destroy our children.”
During a visit to Port Houston Friday, the first openly gay cabinet member, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, responded to the new law in an exclusive interview.
“It tells a lot of Texans that they are not safe or not welcome,” Sec. Buttigieg said. “I’m just mystified that anybody would get up in the morning and make that their priority when we’re working so hard to build roads and bridges and ports and airports and do other things to make everybody better off.”
As the law is set to take effect in just four weeks, Wallace and her team are trying to clear up confusion for business owners and still hoping to fight the law to the end.
“We should not have to focus on baseless laws like this, energy and time. We should be actually helping businesses grow and thrive, not work out of fear and misunderstanding,” Wallace said.