Judge Invokes Dolly Parton and a ‘Relatively Simple Solution’ to Slam Down Ken Paxton’s Precious Anti-Drag Law
For the second time in three years, Judge David Hittner has blocked Texas’ drag ban. “The solution is relatively simple,” he wrote in his ruling. “Just don’t go.”
Photo: Getty Images Politics Drag
As we know all too well by now, Attorney General Ken Paxton’s (R-Tex.) got some… issues. He’s perennially obsessed with attacking the LGBTQ+ community; eliminating any possible access to abortion in Texas and beyond; and attempting gross overreaches of power, as well as refusing to listen to a court when they tell him why he can’t do so for the first, second, or third(!!) time. (Somehow, all this barreled him into the Republican ticket for Texas’ Senate seat.)
But an angel gets its wings every time the judiciary smacks Paxton across his silly little face, and on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge David Hittner told Paxton—for the second time in three years—that Texas can’t enforce its drag show ban, aka Texas Senate Bill 12, a policy that broadly restricts drag shows and declares that “provocative cosplay” could be penalized under the law.
In his ruling, which was issued the same day as Dolly Parton’s death, Hittner referenced several pop icons that could also be criminalized if S.B. 12 were to be legitimately implemented. Per the 34-page ruling:
Just as many people criticized Elvis’s signature hip gyrations and were offended by his display of male sexuality, chastised Dolly Parton as a voluptuous sex symbol because of her big hair, flamboyant clothes and breast exposure, and shamed Miley Cyrus for ‘twerking’ on stage during a live performance at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, there are ‘erotic’ elements in countless popular performances that could be subject to both civil and criminal penalties under S.B. 12.
Hittner, a Reagan-appointed judge, finished out with an obvious recommendation. “For those who find such activities as described in this case offensive, the solution is relatively simple … just don’t go.”
BREAKING: A conservative judge just ruled that Texas banning drag shows is “unconstitutional.”
DRAG QUEENS ARE UP. KEN PAXTON LOST.
✨THANK YOU DOLLY✨
— Travis County Democratic Party (@traviscountydems.bsky.social) August 25, 2026 at 6:53 PM
While S.B. 12 specifically targets what it broadly labels “visual performances”; “nude”; and “prurient interest in sex,” Hittner affirms some of these terms are too general to be enacted without some serious First Amendment violations, referring also to the celebrities and artists who could be blocked from performing under it.
Now, as earlier hinted, it’s not the first time the judge’s struck down S.B. 12. In September 2023—months after it passed the state legislature—Hittner ruled it unconstitutional, saying it violated First Amendment rights. In November 2025, a court of appeals unblocked the law, but Hittner on Tuesday said its decision didn’t “disturb” his earlier decision. And earlier this year, in March, Paxton was able to resume enforcing the law—leaving him the only defendant in the case.
On Instagram stories, Brigitte Bandit—one of the plaintiffs in the case and a recurring Dolly in drag—posted a screenshot of the ruling, writing, “The Texas ‘drag ban’ has been declared unconstitutional and is blocked AGAIN. DRAG IS FREE SPEECH BITCH.” Indeed, bitch.
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