A Florida restaurant that hosts comedy shows filed a lawsuit against Governor Ron DeSantis and the state of Florida to stop implementing a new law prohibiting children from attending drag shows.
In opposition to the bill, which the Republican governor signed last week, Hamburger Mary's, an Orlando bar and restaurant that hosts drag show performances, comedy sketches, and dancing, filed the lawsuit in federal court.
Meanwhile, the leading cause of child mortality is overwhelmingly firearms, not drag shows.
Not protecting the kids
"This bill has nothing to do with children and everything to do with the continued oppression of the LGBTQ+ community," the owners of Hamburger Mary's said on Facebook.
The Facebook post provided a more extensive criticism of DeSantis' policies to ban publications and curricula in public schools that discuss racial oppression or LGBTQ themes.
Under Senate Bill 1438, the state will fine or revoke an establishment's liquor license that accepts minors to a performance that "simulates nudity, sexual conduct or specific sexual activities."
DeSantis has advocated for legislation in Florida that limits LGBTQ rights. He is expected to declare his intention to run for president in 2024.
On the same day that he signed the "Protection of Children" bill, DeSantis also signed legislation that forbade gender-affirming medical treatment for transgender children and mandated that transgender persons use toilets appropriate to the sex they were born as.
Are parents or the state raise kids?
The lawsuit requests that the statute be blocked because it violates the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of speech. The law incorrectly labels drag shows as deviant when they have become "part of mainstream culture." It's almost like trying to ban rock&roll music because it's the "devil's work."
Supporters of the law argue that it is important to protect kids from seeing live performances that are not acceptable to them, with many alleging that doing so exposes them to live pornography.
Others also claim that parents should be responsible for raising their kids, and some of these decisions should fall on them, not the state.
What do you think about DeSanti's ongoing war on the LGBTQ+ communities?
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