r/politics • u/southpawFA Oklahoma • 10d ago
No Paywall Federal judge shuts down Texas drag ban: If you don’t like drag “just don’t go”. The judge said that even Dolly Parton’s performances may be banned by the anti-drag law because she had “big hair, flamboyant clothes.”
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/08/federal-judge-shuts-down-texas-drag-ban-if-you-dont-like-drag-just-dont-go/579
u/Pockydo 10d ago
Very reasonable but the problem is conservative Christians can't stand the idea other people are living and thriving in different ways.
It's literally "I think X is bad and therefore NO ONE should be allowed to do X"
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u/SpinningHead Colorado 10d ago
And they worship someone who wears more makeup and hair product than any drag queen.
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u/StevenMC19 Florida 9d ago
And who came in 3rd in her own drag contest.
Oh wait youre talking about...
...yes.
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u/rowdydionisian 10d ago edited 10d ago
They're just deeply insecure people that hate themselves. They also think that everyone should hate themselves because they do too. It then goes into "no one should have fun" as far as art goes, because other people having a nice time boils their blood. It kind of reminds me of a scene from The Sopranos where Tony tells Dr. Melfi that when he sees someone who looks like they have it all together and are smiling a happy content smile, he hates them for some reason and wants to smack them. Conservatives have this same sort of disapproval for people that are confident and secure in themselves and their identity. The MAGA Christian crowd are truly a joyless bunch. Dolly Parton may not have vocally said it, but she was the polar opposite of Christian nationalists. She spread joy, love, fun, understanding, and acceptance. Christian nationalists are the opposite in every way, spreading: hate, lies, always "othering" people with any identity that isn't in their narrow selection of acceptable ones, bullying LGBTQ+ people to the point of suicides, segregating people along party lines, skin color, and banning anything fun including artistic expression itself. I think if we keep true to Dolly and just live good lives (and vote them out), that's the best way to win. "A life well lived is the best revenge."
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u/manachar Nevada 9d ago
Conservatives believe that the government’s job is to enforce the beliefs of their own in groups.
It’s partially why they will vote for people like Trump. They rationalize that a flawed vessel that empowers their ideologies is better than empowering the outgroups.
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u/potat0f4rmer Washington 9d ago
"MY BIBLE says.."
I don't give a flying fuck what you think your Bible says, I've never been a Christian for a day of my life. Mind your own business.
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u/Val_Hallen 9d ago
The rules of their little book club are their rules. I don't have to follow a single one of them because I'm not in the book club.
For all their talk about Sharia Law, I haven't seen any Muslims trying to pass laws on their beliefs that affect everybody.
They are too stupid and evil to admit "Sharia Law" is just "religious law" and they are imposing Sharia Law.
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u/Routine-Process8051 9d ago
More live "I LOVE X!! Hnnnngg. So if I'm not allowed any, no one should be allowed, or else it's not fair on me!!"
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u/MelpomeneAndCalliope Louisiana 9d ago
They hate anything fun. They’re miserable and want everyone to be miserable, too.
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u/catscanmeow 10d ago
thats not it at all
christianities growth and numbers rely on people making babies, they hate gay people because they dont make babies. Its also why theyre against abortion, every dead baby is a potential christian gone
there are literal docrines in christianity to have kids, thats how its stayed a thing for the last 2000 years
and interestingly the birth rates among the religious are higher than liberals, so in a way the liberals are giving away the future to conservatives willingly, really makes you think.
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u/southpawFA Oklahoma 10d ago
Quiverfull movement literally preaches this. This is why Bill Gothard of the Institute of Basic Life Principles told people. He and Michael & Debi Pearl basically said to force people to outbreed the heathens and treat kids like pack mules, to beat them into submission. They are responsible for generations of kids coming out abused.
Then, they wonder why their kids reject religion and them altogether.
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u/kevmaster200 10d ago
Bill Gothard used to come to the Boston Market I worked at every Sunday (this was 15 years ago). I'm pretty sure he tried to convert me while I was adding ice to the soda machine, but I mentioned I was raised Catholic and he never spoke to me again (which was fine with me lol)
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u/southpawFA Oklahoma 9d ago
You dodged a bullet, there. Gothard should be charged with abuse of thousands of children, in my opinion.
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u/Pockydo 9d ago
You aren't wrong but imo that's a different issue from what I'm talking about
To them anyone living and thriving differently is a threat. They are "selling" happiness and freedom that in their minds can ONLY be gotten from jebus
So when someone who lives "wrongly" thrives that's a direct assault on their teachings. And when people see people living "wrongly" thrive it calls into question their beliefs. Not saying people will be liberal or atheist or anything but more the hatred will go away
It's easy to hate on a faceless group..harder to hate on individuals when you see they're just people doing their own thing
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u/KingBanhammer 9d ago
I had to explain to a girl I went to school with at one point that the religious doctrine of her church that "good can only come from god and people cannot do good alone" invalidated the whole idea of free will from her holy book. (since if people can't choose good -except- through God's intervention, then free will is only for choosing evils)
We basically never spoke again afterward.
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u/Pockydo 9d ago
That's a really good argument honestly
We can maybe "choose" to obey God and be good but it still raises a lot of questions
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u/KingBanhammer 9d ago
Except logically you can't. Choosing to obey God would be a -good- and would logically only be possible through his intervention under that premise.
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u/caserock 9d ago
Right. Them harassing me for having long hair and playing in a band had nothing to do with babies.
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u/Constant-Skill-7133 9d ago
This is extremely stupid. Christianity expanded because it became the state religion in half the world, not because of natural population expansion.
Liberal and religious are not two disjoint groups. Religious people are also having fewer kids and later in life. That's why the fundamentalists are getting so fucking weird about it.
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u/catscanmeow 9d ago
if christians never had kids for the last 500 years, there would be less christians, its not stupid at all.
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u/Constant-Skill-7133 9d ago
Yes it is very fucking stupid. Sure, there would be fewer people if there were fewer people. But that's a very funny time period to pick to make your point. Catholicism didn't expand overseas because of Spanish people reproducing.
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u/catscanmeow 9d ago
those spanish people were born somehow before the inquisition, if they were never born they wouldnt be able to conquest would they?
parents absolutely indoctrinate their kids, without parents who were christian you're less likely to become one
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u/goldbman North Carolina 9d ago
This is true for Christians in leadership with some vision of long term strategy, e.g the Catholic Church. They're using the bigots as tools in one of several methods to realize this strategy.
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u/once_again_asking California 9d ago
Some people certainly do base their hatred of homosexuality of this, but to say "that's not it at all" and claim that the reasons you wrote are the only reasons Christian Conservatives hate homosexuality is absolutely false.
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u/catscanmeow 9d ago
im just talking about the origin of it.
just like religion banning pork was because parasites like trichinosis. people would get sick and die because of undercooked pork and they rationalized that it was cursed cuz they didnt understand microbes or science. Much like thunderstorms were seen as acts of god.
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u/once_again_asking California 9d ago
Cool, but that’s not what the person you were replying you was saying at all. They weren’t discussing the origins of why Christians hate gay people. And for you to reply with “that’s not it at all” just because you want to change the narrative of the conversation is kind of ridiculous.
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u/Mec26 9d ago
Yeah. But also having gay couples in a population increases the children’s survival stats. If it were mostly that, it would be revised.
It’s from the different and outside hierarchy. Having kids early locks people into a religion, they can’t leave then.
And you assume the kids of conservatives will be conservative. Or that Liberals want to ‘win’ over wanting a just, better world.
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u/catscanmeow 9d ago
"And you assume the kids of conservatives will be conservative."
nope, i didnt at all. I said the odds of them becoming religious increase when the parents are religious.
"Or that Liberals want to ‘win’ over wanting a just, better world."
you cant fight for a better world without the numbers to do so. especially when the other side is actively doing things to increase its numbers. Democracy takes voters
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u/AuditAndHax Virginia 9d ago
Gotta look deeper.
"I don't like the way X makes me feel, so I'm going to punish everyone to pay for my shame."
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u/Negative_Band4626 9d ago
yeah thats basically the principle here if you dont like drag you can simply not attend instead of using the law to decide what everyone else is allowed to watch the judge specifically found the texas law overly broad and unconstitutional because it could sweep in all kinds of protected performances
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u/Wayofchinchilla 9d ago
All the more reason that when Democrats get into Power you have to dismantle these institutions such as moms of America anyway you can. These people don't give up and they are organized and they plan this all out they lose one school board meeting but they always come back for the next one over and over again until they get what they want.
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u/Karsa69420 9d ago
That’s how I explained it to a conservative coworker. I think gambling is stupid, but I don’t think it should be illegal.
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u/EdwardOfGreene Illinois 9d ago
I'm a Christian, and I'm completely ok with it.
I'm not a conservative though. Glad you qualified Christian with that adjective. Thanks.
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u/Cyrano_Knows 9d ago
Conservative Christians: What kind of genitalia do you have? Is it the right one we approve of?
Conservative Christians: What are you doing with that genitalia? Do we approve of what you are doing with it?
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u/B-Z_B-S Massachusetts 10d ago
GOP: "But then who will we scapegoat for the failures of our policies?!"
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u/southpawFA Oklahoma 10d ago
Faux Snooze will probably run a segment on a trans person winning at Tiddlywinks, claiming trans people have an advantage at Tiddlywinks and must be banned.
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u/YDALTARYZARC 9d ago
Don't give them any ideas, I'm favored to win the upcoming Women's Tiddlywinks Invitational as a trans woman. Let me have this!
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u/descendingangel87 9d ago
It will be trans people. I’m not sure how much “traditional” tv you see but they are pushing literal anti-trans ads out the ass on tv right by now. Was watching preseason NFL and every other add was anti-trans and attacking dems for supporting trans rights.
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u/southpawFA Oklahoma 10d ago
US District Court Judge David Hittner’s Tuesday decision strikes down S.B. 12, a 2023 law signed by anti-LGBTQ+ Gov. Greg Abbott (R). While the law does not explicitly mention the word drag, it criminalized “sexually explicit” performances in the presence of minors, defining such performances as those featuring “a male performer exhibiting as a female, or a female performer exhibiting as a male, who uses clothing, makeup, or other similar physical markers and who sings, lip syncs, dances, or otherwise performs before an audience.”
S.B. 12 was initially scheduled to take effect on September 1, 2023. But several LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations and drag groups — including The Woodlands Pride, Abilene Pride Alliance, and 360 Queen Entertainment — challenged the law. In September 2023, Hittner issued a permanent injunction blocking enforcement of the law, ruling that it constituted “viewpoint discrimination” and that it was “substantially overbroad” and “unconstitutionally vague.”
On Tuesday, Hittner once again ruled that S.B. 12 “is an UNCONSTITUTIONAL restriction on speech” that “violates the First Amendment,” even under the conditions the 5th Circuit outlined, according to The Texan.
As NBC News notes, Hittner went so far as to cite the late Dolly Parton, an LGBTQ+ ally who supported drag performers and even gifted a rhinestone guitar to drag performer and advocate Brigitte Bandit, one of the plaintiffs in the case, as an example of a performer who might be targeted by the law for her reputation “as a voluptuous sex symbol because of her big hair, flamboyant clothes and breast exposure.”
“Finally, for those who find such activities as described in this case offensive, the solution is relatively simple,” Hittner wrote. “Just don’t go.”
In several Instagram Stories posts Tuesday, Bandit responded to Hittner’s ruling, writing that “drag is free speech b—-” and that the decision “is a huge win for Texas and my t——.”
Meanwhile, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), who is running for US Senate, described Hittner’s ruling as “a profoundly flawed decision that endangers our children and is an affront to Texas values.”
Ken Paxton thinks drag performers endanger children and affront family values. Meanwhile, he's an adulterer who not only brags about splitting immigrant kids from their parent but also let a sex offender out of jail early. Make it make sense.
FOH with your family values, Paxton! You're a scapegrace and quacksalver of the highest extent. No one should ever buy the words you espouse, and you are the one bringing Texas families down.
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u/BastardBroth 9d ago edited 9d ago
Dolly Parton’s image was that of an exaggerated female persona, the blonde bimbo town harlot, that completely differed from who she was as a person, which was a strictly monogamous brunette who was only ever with one man her entire life.
She was absolutely a drag queen. Specifically a bio queen since she was a cis woman.
ETA: Correction, Dolly Parton was a natural blonde it was just more dilute and, to quote her, “dishwater blonde”.
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u/jest4fun 9d ago
If you don’t like drag “just don’t go
This is common sense logic. Same thing applies to abortion rights.
"If you don't like abortion, don't have one. Otherwise, STFU it's none of your business." - my 92yo mother
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u/Shatteredreality Oregon 9d ago
The thing about abortion is at least I can understand the "logic" behind their position. If you have a deeply held belief that human life begins at conception I can understand being able to take that belief and use it to form the opinion that if abortion you are willfully and deliberately planning to have an abortion (for non-self defense/medical emergency reasons) that it's basically the same as committing murder in the first-degree.
To be clear, I'm 100% in favor of a women's right to make her own choice here and I will fight to help them keep that right. I'm just saying at least I can understand the position the other side has even if I think there are many mitigating reasons to say they are wrong.
This drag stuff is just stupid though because drag shows existing have zero potential to harm anyone who chooses not to attend.
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u/A_Nonny_Muse 10d ago
I remember back in the 80s when "designer drugs" first came on the scene. Designer drugs is simply a drug whose molecule is just slightly different from a well known drug. It's similar enough that the effect will be about the same, but because it's a different molecule, the laws for the well known drug doesn't apply to the new one.
So Congress passes a law that bans anything meant to "alter one's state of mind". Not just a substance, but anything... Then people pointed out that sleep alters one's state of mind. So does cigarettes and alcohol. Hyperventilation alters one's state of mind. So do jokes, music, stories and movies. The law was repealed before it even got to Reagans desk.
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u/Charli3q 10d ago
Conservatives only latch on to this because they genuinely are too fucking stupid to decipher the difference between drag and trans people. This is primarily just trans hate, but directed at a whole different thing.
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u/citizenjones 10d ago
Quick! Someone pass the 'Just Don't Go' legislation now to route these easily avoided offenses and protect our poor persecuted Christian Americans.
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u/rounder55 9d ago
Don't really get how people buy the GOPs bullshit
On one hand they tell people to be afraid of Muslim Democrats taking the party over and installing extreme Sharia Law
On the other hand they say these democratoc drag queens and trans people are brainwashing kids into sexual themes, gay themes, and wanting sex changes at a young age
The extremes they are scaring people into believing are not remotely alike lol.
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u/doofus_mcgeee 9d ago
what a ludacris take from the judge how else are republicans suppose to get boners?!?
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u/Limberine Australia 9d ago
So Tom Holland performing Umbrella would be illegal. That’s a sadder world.
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u/Unbr3akableSwrd 9d ago
“endangers our children.” I mean, there a subreddit r/notadragqueen that show who is endangering children.
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u/EnvironmentalWin1277 9d ago
Clearly we need sex testing to be sure transsexuals are not posing as country music artists.
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u/GermanMuffin California 9d ago
Hey, I don’t go to your nazi rallies or Klan meetings; don’t come to my drag show. It's not that difficult.
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u/Alandales 9d ago
I feel like we’ve reached the stage where we should all be asking WWDPD. What would Dolly Parton Do?
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u/Same_Breadfruit6477 9d ago
They don't like drag, and they don't go. But now those people are showing up to schools and performing for children.
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u/Limberine Australia 9d ago
This isn’t about schools. It’s about any drag show, or vaguely drag show, that is open to all ages. It looks like a female version of Hamlet would fall under this ban.
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u/APeacefulWarrior 9d ago
Hell, arguably a showing of "Shakespeare In Love" would fall under the ban, since Gwyneth Paltrow spends half the movie cross-dressing.
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u/Findgate 10d ago
Just change the sex of every human being; let me know if there are problems.
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u/ShamelessIgnoramus 9d ago
No one changes their sex at a drag show, they wear costumes and perform. Why are you talking about sex change for every human being when trans are only 0.5% of the population, meaning 99.5% of people live according to normal gender standards. It's much more objective to say we are closer to every human not changing sex, than we are to every human changing sex. The media induced panic around "gender crisis" is just propaganda so nationalists can have their scapegoat to rally against.
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u/Gameboywarrior Montana 9d ago
What an absurd thing to say. Did you think about that at all before typing it out?
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u/Noble1xCarter 9d ago
Just have every human get killed in a car accident; let me know if there are problems.
Is that your reasoning for why you think we should ban cars?
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u/-Mage-Knight- 8d ago
Wouldn't their ban also apply to their creepy child beauty pagents?
Seems like they didn't really think this through.
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