Judge pauses Montana bill banning 'a drag queen or drag king' from reading to kids: report

29 July 2023

Federal Judge Brian Morris has placed a temporary hold on a Montana law he said "likely will disproportionately harm not only drag performers, but any person who falls outside traditional gender and identity norms," CNN reports.

Per CNN, the law passed by Montana Republican Governor Greg Gianforte earlier this year bans minors "from attending 'sexually oriented shows,' including "so-called drag story hours, which the law defines as events hosted 'by a drag queen or drag king who reads children's books and engages in other learning activities with minor children present.'"

House Bill 359 "also bans public 'sexually oriented performances' – including any involving 'removal or simulated removal of clothing in a sexual manner' – seen by people under the age of 18," according to the report.

The judge's decision comes after "Montana Pride asked the judge earlier this month for an immediate order because the city of Helena had denied its request for a permit for its events, some of which include drag performers, that are scheduled to start Sunday."

Backing the organization, Morris contends "nothing in the record currently before the Court indicates that speech and expression associated with Montana Pride has harmed minors or any other community members."

CNN reports the ruling will prevent "Montana's Republican Attorney General Austin Knudsen from enforcing the measure, which is among other restrictive laws targeting drag performers enacted in GOP-led states, while the court considers whether to issue a longer lasting preliminary injunction."

Furthermore, according to the report, "other plaintiffs in the case include a transgender indigenous author, Adria Jawort, who said a talk she was scheduled to give at a public library in Butte-Silver Bow last month was canceled because the librarian informed her, 'It is too much of a legal risk to have a transgendered person in the library.'"

State Republican lawmakers have spent much of their time this year passing anti-transgender laws, which the state's only trans lawmaker, Rep. Zooey Zephyr (D) says have resulted in suicide.

In an April hearing regarding Republican-backed anti-trans legislation, the Democratic lawmaker told her GOP colleagues, "When I rose up and said, 'There is blood on your hands,' I was not being hyperbolic.'"

CNN's full report is available at this link.

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