08/26/2026
Dolly would be proud.
https://www.facebook.com/share/19TkQXrri4/?mibextid=wwXIfr
"Just don't go." A Texas federal judge advised as he struck down the state's ban on drag performances.
The judge is David Hittner, 87 years old, appointed by Ronald Reagan. He ruled Tuesday that Senate Bill 12, the 2023 law Texas passed to police drag, was so broad and so vague it violated the First Amendment. Under it, a business could be fined $10,000 and a performer could face up to a year in jail.
Hittner pointed out the law was written so loosely it could sweep in "cheerleading, dancing, live theater," and, he wrote, plenty of mainstream stars.
To show how absurd the law's ban on the "prurient" was, Hittner cited the way some people scold Dolly Parton "as a voluptuous s*x symbol because of her big hair, flamboyant clothes and breast exposure." By the logic of Texas's law, he was saying, you could prosecute Dolly.
That ruling came down on the day Dolly Parton died.
She was 80. And of all the people caught up in this case, one of them knew her. Brigitte Bandit, the Austin drag performer who sued the state and won, performs as Parton in her act. In 2023, the same year Bandit testified against this bill at the Texas Capitol, Dolly gave her a rhinestone guitar.
Bandit posted the ruling on Tuesday with five words: "Drag is free speech, bitch." Then she announced that this Saturday, at a bar in Austin, she will perform as Dolly Parton in her honor.
So here is where it lands. Texas spent years, and its attorney general, Ken Paxton, now running for Senate, tried to make it a crime to dress up and put on a show. A Reagan judge told them the Constitution says no, and used Dolly Parton to explain why.
The drag queen Dolly once handed a guitar will take a stage this weekend, legally, and sing her home.
Just don't go, if you don't want to. Everyone else will be there.
___
