Owners of an independent bookstore, a transgender woman, an educator who teaches wearing costumes, and several businesses are challenging Montana’s law banning drag queens from reading to children in public schools and libraries, known as “Drag Queen Story Hour.”
According to the Associated Press, the federal lawsuit was filed on Thursday and alleges that the law is in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s free speech protections and equal protection guarantees. The plaintiffs are seeking an injunction on the law.
As Townhall covered, Montana became the first state in the country to ban these kinds of events for children. State Rep. Braxton Mitchell, the youngest member of the state legislature, who is a Republican, drafted the legislation.
“In my humble opinion, there’s no such thing as a family-friendly drag show,” Mitchell said of the legislation in April, according to the Associated Press when it was signed into law. Braxton added that “drag shows in recent years have been specifically aimed at children.”
Braxton is a 23-year-old Montana State Rep who just got his bill passed to ban sexualization of children on the public dime.
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) May 22, 2023
Follow him @BraxtonMT
GOP Gov. Greg Gianforte signed the bill into law. Kaitlin Price, a spokesperson for the governor, told Fox News at the time that Gianforte “believes it’s wildly inappropriate for little kids, especially preschoolers and kids in elementary school, to be exposed to sexualized content.”
In the lawsuit, the bill is described as “a breathtakingly ambiguous and overbroad bill, motivated by anti-LGBTQ+ animus,” AP noted. Other plaintiffs include businesses, organizations and others that host drag events that children are welcomed to attend.
Similar legislation has been created in Tennessee and Florida, but outlaw performances from drag queens that are sexual in nature. Both states are facing legal challenges against these laws.
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