Judge issues temporary injunction against Montana’s ban on drag story hours

A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order on a Montana law banning drag shows and drag queen story hours from taking place on public property.

Montana Pride sued for an immediate injunction after being denied a permit for its July events in Helena because they included drag performers, CNN reported.

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“Their light started to dim [as] the bullies… started to chip away at their soul,” his sister wrote.

In his opinion, Judge Brian Morris wrote that “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.”

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Morris also wrote that the law at least partially violates the First Amendment’s right to free speech and that it “likely will disproportionately harm not only drag performers, but any person who falls outside traditional gender and identity norms.”

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R)  signed H.B. 359 into law in May.

It was the first in the country to specifically ban drag performers from reading to kids. It also says “sexually oriented or obscene performances” – which Republicans have been using as code for any drag – cannot take place in public places where children are present.

The bill is also unique compared to other states’ drag bans in that it explicitly acknowledges and bans both drag queens and drag kings from reading in front of children. It defines both terms as “a male or female performer who adopts a flamboyant or parodic” male or feminine persona “with glamorous or exaggerated costumes and makeup.”

The law’s opponents have argued that the definitions of drag are vague and they are worried it could even lead to bans of certain theater performances. In fact, two independent movie theaters reportedly joined Montana Pride’s lawsuit due to their fears the law could be used to ban them from showing certain films with “sexually oriented or obscene performances,” as 17-year-olds are allowed to see R-rated movies.

Other plaintiffs include two bookstore owners, an educator who teaches in historical costumes, and a trans woman named Adria Jawort, whose June 2 library lecture about Two-Spirit culture was canceled over fears that she might violate the law’s prohibition on any “male or female performer who adopts a flamboyant or parodic” male or feminine persona.

The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Braxton Mitchell (R), defended his law by asking, “Why do these people want to dress half-naked and read books to kids? Never got a single answer.” Drag performers at story hours do not dress half-naked.

Emily Flower, a spokesperson for the state’s attorney general, Republican Austin Knudsen, told CNN that they “look forward to presenting our written response and full argument at the upcoming preliminary injunction hearing to defend the law and protect minors from sexually oriented performances.”

Federal judges have also blocked drag bans from going into effect in Tennessee and Florida, stating that they violate people’s rights to free speech.