This story originally appeared on The Advocate.
A federal judge cited Dolly Parton’s bosom as he blocked Texas’ drag ban, proving that even in death, the LGBTQ+ icon can still defend the rights of queens.
U.S. District Judge David Hittner ruled that a 2023 state law criminalizing “sexually oriented” performances in public or in the presence of minors violated Texans’ constitutional rights.
As it happens, one of the plaintiffs, Austin drag queen Bridgitte Bandit, is well known for portraying Parton onstage. Parton even gave Bandit a rhinestone guitar in 2023 — a story the performer recounted to television station KXAN on the day of Parton’s death.
The Parton connection also appeared in Hittner’s ruling, which considered whether a drag performer’s portrayal of the singer could automatically be deemed too sexual for a family audience. The judge suggested that a strict reading of Texas’ Senate Bill 12 could have been used to kick even the Queen of Country off a Texas stage.
“Because SB 12 does not specify who determines whether a performance ‘appeals to the prurient interest,’ or require that the work be taken as a whole, a single moment of eroticism could condemn an entire performance to criminal or civil penalties,” he wrote.
“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.”
Attorneys for Texas argued that a Dolly Parton impersonator wearing a breastplate and making gestures that could be deemed sexual onstage would violate the law.
Hittner suggested a far simpler response for people offended by such performances than calling the authorities to arrest drag queens. “Finally, for those who find such activities as described in this case offensive, the solution is relatively simple ... just don't go,” he wrote.
Related: Texas Judge Strikes Down Anti-Drag Law Days After Another Upholds College Drag Ban
The ruling came down the same day the world learned Parton died at age 80 following a brief bout with cancer. Although she built her career within the notoriously conservative world of country music, Parton embraced LGBTQ+ people as family and supported gay artists and audiences for decades.
Parton’s famously buxom image had become part of the legal argument for protecting drag as expression.
Hittner’s decision wasn’t entirely unexpected. In 2023, the same judge struck down the law as a violation of free speech. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated that ruling over whether some plaintiffs had legal standing and sent the case back to Hittner’s court. Hittner has now issued a new decision, which the state is likely to appeal. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, meanwhile, has upheld Florida’s similar restrictions.
