Austin drag queen Brigitte Bandit testifies against the drag ban. She later became a plaintiff in a lawsuit that successfully defeated the law. Credit: Photo by John Anderson

September 26: Texas Republicans really outdid themselves this year, passing a trio of anti-LGBTQ laws, each of questionable constitutionality. There was Senate Bill 14, which bans gender affirming care for minors; House Bill 900, which bans books (including those with LGBTQ themes) from public school libraries; and SB 12, the drag ban.

SB 12 would have banned any performance in a public space, or where minors are present, from displaying a “prurient interest in sex” or “exhibition or representation” of “actual or simulated” male and female genitals “in a lewd state,” along with “sexual gesticulations using accessories or prosthetics.”

The Texas ACLU showed up to fight each piece of the new anti-queer legislation. In the case of SB 12, the group enlisted famed drag queen Brigitte Bandit to testify before a federal judge in August that the ban was unconstitutional, because drag is free speech. On Sept. 26, the judge agreed.

“I am ugly crying,” Bandit said after the ruling. “This decision is a much-needed reminder that queer Texans belong and we deserve to be heard.”

“I am ugly crying. This decision is a much-needed reminder that queer Texans belong and we deserve to be heard.” – Austin drag queen and plaintiff Brigitte Bandit

This article appears in December 15 • 2023.

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Brant Bingamon arrived in Austin in 1981 to attend UT and immediately became fascinated by the city's music scene. He's spent his adult life playing in bands and began writing for the Chronicle in 2019, covering criminal justice, the death penalty, and public school issues. He has two children, Noah and Eryl, and lives with his partner Adrienne on the Eastside.