Supreme Court rejects Florida's request to enforce anti-drag show law

Nov. 16 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday rejected Florida's request for an emergency stay to allow the enforcement of its anti-drag show legislation.

Justices rejected the request by a vote of 6-3.

The so-called Protection of Children Act, promoted and signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in May, outlawed admitting children to "lewd" performances. Under the new law, businesses found in violation of it could be subject to fines or losing their business licenses, including those for alcohol sales.

The proprietors of Orlando restaurant Hamburger Mary's, which features family-centric drag performances, subsequently sued on First Amendment grounds, and the law was struck down by a district court.

Florida then requested an emergency stay from the Supreme Court, which would have allowed them to enforce the law, at least temporarily while a the case undergoes more judicial review.

Conservative-appointed justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas agreed with Florida's request, while Trump-appointed Justice Brett Kavanaugh sided with the rest of the court in rejecting it.

"Florida recently enacted a law that makes it a misdemeanor for a restaurant to or bar to knowingly admit a child to an 'adult live performance,' defined as a sexually explicit show that would be obscene in light of child's age," Justice Kavanaugh wrote in opening his opinion rejecting Florida's request.

Toward concluding it, he stressed that the court's rejection "indicates nothing about our view on whether Florida's new law violates" First Amendment rights.

Kavanaugh said that in order to be granted a stay, an applicant must show that there is "a reasonable probability" that the Supreme Court would grant "certiorari" by reviewing the lower court's decision on its merits.

A final ruling on the case can only come once the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reviews the case fully on the merits of First Amendment claims made by the defendants.