A Reagan-Appointed Judge Just Told Texas Parents to Look Away While Drag Queens Perform for Their Kids

August 30, 2026 Cat2, The Media
KATRIN BOLOVTSOVA via pexels

A Ronald Reagan appointee just told 30 million Texans that they can't protect their own children from sexually oriented performances.

Texas passed a law in 2023 to stop it – and a single federal judge just killed it for the second time.

Now the man blocking Texas from protecting children told offended parents the solution is simple – just don't go.

The Judge Who Won't Let Texas Protect Its Kids

U.S. District Judge David Hittner struck down Texas Senate Bill 12 on Tuesday, the 2023 law that banned "sexually oriented performances" in front of minors.

This is the second time he's done it.

Hittner first killed the law in September 2023, the same year Texas parents watched it pass.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals stepped in, overturned that injunction in November 2025, and sent the case back to Hittner for another look.

Hittner did the same thing again.

His ruling permanently bars Attorney General Ken Paxton from enforcing SB 12 – the law that imposed up to $10,000 fines on businesses hosting sexually oriented shows for children and up to a year in jail for performers.

Hittner's logic: the language was written so broadly it could sweep up cheerleaders, Miley Cyrus's 2013 MTV performance, and even Dolly Parton alongside any actual drag show.

The judge wrote that Parton had long been branded "a voluptuous sex symbol" because of her stage presence and appearance – and that a single moment of that kind could expose any performance to criminal or civil penalties under the law.

"Just as many people criticized Elvis’s signature hip gyrations and were offended by his display of male sexuality, chastised Dolly Parton as a voluptuous sex symbol because of her big hair, flamboyant clothes and breast exposure, and shamed Miley Cyrus for ‘twerking’ on stage during a live performance at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, there are ‘erotic’ elements in countless popular performances that could be subject to both civil and criminal penalties under S.B. 12," Hittner wrote.

One plaintiff in the case – a drag performer who impersonates Dolly Parton – received a rhinestone-covered guitar from Parton herself at an Austin bar in 2023, after testifying against the legislation.

Let that land for a second.

The judge protecting drag performers from a child safety law used Dolly Parton as his legal shield.

And the drag queen who sued Texas to keep performing in front of children does it while impersonating the woman your grandmother loves.

That's not a coincidence – that's a strategy.

Paxton Is Fighting Back and Running for Senate

Paxton called the ruling "a profoundly flawed decision that endangers our children and is an affront to Texas values" and announced an immediate appeal.

He's right to fight.

This is the exact pattern courts have used to gut every meaningful child protection law since the 1990s.

Declare the language "overbroad." Find hypothetical edge cases. Block the whole thing.

Courts have done this to social media safety laws in Arkansas, California, Ohio, and Utah – using the same First Amendment logic Hittner just applied to drag shows.

The argument never changes: protecting children from explicit content restricts free speech too broadly.

Every time parents vote for protection, a single judge decides they were wrong.

This Fight Isn't Over

The Fifth Circuit already showed it's willing to overrule Hittner once – and Paxton says he's going back.

Thirty million Texans elected a Legislature that passed a law to protect their children.

One judge permanently blocked it and told parents to simply stay home if they don't like what's being performed in front of their kids.

Paxton's appeal heads back to the Fifth Circuit, the same court that already slapped Hittner down once.

The parents of Texas are counting on it to happen again.

Sources:

  • Lowell Cauffiel, "Federal Judge Kills Texas Drag Show Ban, Saying It Would Even Land Dolly Parton in Jail," Breitbart, August 26, 2026.
  • "Federal Judge Again Strikes Down Texas Drag Show Law SB 12," Texas Policy Research, August 26, 2026.
  • "Texas Drag Show Law SB 12 Back in Effect After Fifth Circuit Ruling," Texas Policy Research, April 15, 2026.
  • "Federal Judge Strikes Down Texas Drag Show Ban," Fox News, August 26, 2026.
  • "Can Texas Ban Drag Shows? What to Know After a Judge Blocked the Law Again," Dallas Morning News, August 26, 2026.