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Where are the 1st Amendment lawsuits against anti-Drag state laws? [1]

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Date: 2023-02-23  

Why is the ACLU missing in action when it comes to lawsuits to overturn anti-drag state laws? In fact, where are all the civil rights’ organizations?

Musical and theatre performances are definitively protected activities under the 1st Amendment. The only exception is if they are “obscene.” The three-prong test for obscenity imposes a really, really high bar though, which is far from met by these state laws.

And it’s not even clear if the test needs to be applied. An individual performance may be obscene just like an individual book might, but these state laws ban an entire category of free expression . It’s incredibly wrong, both legally and morally.

Moreover, almost all of the legislative history and statehouse debate on these laws bases their passing on false accusations that drag show performers are “groomers.” This is as nasty a slander as it gets.

Where the hell are the civil rights’ organizations? Why aren’t they suing the F out of these states? And a side benefit: more time that these statehouse yo-yos spend in court is less time spent available to pass crap laws like this.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/23/2154699/-Where-are-the-1st-Amendment-lawsuits-against-anti-Drag-state-laws

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