A federal court blocked Florida's new drag show law, ruling the state's effort to bar children from attending "adult live performances," is overly vague and likely unconstitutional. The third time this month that federal courts have enjoined laws backed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis that concern gender or LGBTQ+ matters. In all three cases, the issues supported by DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate, lost because the laws appear to infringe on people’s constitutional rights. The U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell of the Middle District of Florida granted an injunction preventing the state from enforcing a law that bans minors from attending obscene live performances, calling it too broad. The judge refused to dismiss the law entirely, meaning the underlying lawsuit challenging it will go forward. The governor’s office said the judge was “dead wrong” and predicted the state would win on appeal.
Last week, another judge struck down a Florida rule and a statute that banned state Medicaid payments for transgender healthcare. That same judge on June 6 partially blocked Florida from enforcing its recent ban on people under 18 receiving gender-affirming care such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy. In both of those cases, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle of the Northern District of Florida cited the 14th Amendment guarantees to equal protection under the law. #Queer Up Courts