federal appeals court has lifted a lower court’s injunction, allowing Florida to enforce its 2023 law that prohibits children from attending “adult live performances,” a category that includes drag shows.
Adult live performances are defined in the law as “any performance of or involving the actual presence of real people [topless and/or bottomless dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, drag performers] which exhibits specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.”
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the previous order blocking enforcement, meaning the law is now in effect across the state, except for Hamburger Mary’s, the venue that challenged its constitutionality.
The law, known as the Protection of Children Act, specifically bans minors from attending performances that depict or simulate nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or lewd exposure of prosthetic or imitation genitals or breasts.