ORLANDO, Fla. – A Florida judge granted an injunction on Friday for drag show restaurant Hamburger Mary’s in Orlando against a Florida law penalizing businesses letting children attend live performances considered to be “adult” in nature.
As Local 10 Orlando news partner WKMG News 6 reports, Hamburger Mary’s sued the state and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis last month in federal court, with the owners claiming the law is too vague and broad to satisfy the requirements of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and that it has a chilling effect on protected speech.
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The ruling filed on Friday pauses the law dubbed the Protection of Children Act, which allows state agencies to fine or revoke the license of venues that host “adult” entertainment and allow children in the audience.
The law defines “adult live performances,” in part, as “any show, exhibition, or other presentation in front of a live audience which, in whole or in part, depicts or simulates nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement or specific sexual activities, … lewd conduct, or the lewd exposure of prosthetic or imitation genitals or breasts.”
“Defendant professes that a statewide preliminary injunction would ‘harm the public by exposing children to ‘adult live performances.’ This concern rings hollow, however, when accompanied by the knowledge that Florida state law, presently and independently of the instant statutory scheme, permits any minor to attend an R-rated film at a movie theater if accompanied by a parent or guardian,” the judge wrote in part of the ruling.
Hamburger Mary’s owners told News 6 in May that once they told customers that children would no longer be permitted at any of its drag shows, bookings in May fell 20%.
“We obviously had to stop allowing people to bring their children in and the moment we announced that 20% of our bookings went down on Sunday and cancelations and then the following Sunday, so it is taking a hit on the business,” owner John Paonessa told News 6 last month.
He said there’s nothing going on with drag queens that affect “any family, children, there’s no nudity at these shows. There’s no grooming. It’s a false narrative that that’s being placed on drag shows.”
In a response filed on June 2, the state attorney said Hamburger Mary’s wouldn’t be impacted by the law, as it doesn’t host “adult live performances.” Instead, officials explained that the law was aimed at live performances with sexually explicit content.
“Hamburger Mary’s claims it has excluded children from its performances because of the act, but it also claims no intention to host performances that even arguably would require it to exclude children,” the defendants wrote.
The judge wrote in the ruling that the plaintiff Hamburger Mary’s “fifteen years of incident-free, harmless drag shows demonstrates the absence of any substantial harm to Defendant or to the public interest.”
“Moreover, existing obscenity laws provide Defendant with the necessary authority to protect children from any constitutionally unprotected obscene exhibitions or shows. The harm to Plaintiff clearly outweighs any purported evils not covered by Florida law and a preliminary injunction would not be adverse to the public interest,” the judge wrote.
Florida state Rep. Anna Eskamani said that the ruling was another “legal win” for first amendment rights.
“The United States should not be hindering free speech or erasing communities. In deep contrasts, we should respect different cultural identities and embrace freedom of expression,” she said.
Jeremy Redfern, press secretary for Gov. DeSantis, told News 6 that the ruling was wrong and that the state would be appealing the decision.
“Of course it’s constitutional to prevent the sexualization of children by limiting their access to adult live performances. We believe the judge’s opinion is dead wrong and look forward to prevailing on appeal,” he said.
Read the full ruling: