Bill to ban lewd performances while kids are present will go to the governor's desk

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A bill that has been a focus this legislative session of the LGBTQ+ advocates will go to the governor's desk after lawmakers reached an agreement Sunday.

Senate Bill 12 would ban sexually explicit or suggestive performances while minors are present. Lawmakers in the House previously stripped the bill of any mention of drag performances or gender non-conformity, but the conference committee added new language that opponents of the bill say could targets those performers anyways.

Businesses could face a $10,000 fine for allowing the performances at their establishment.

According to the most recent version of the bill posted, sexually explicit performances include the following:

• The presentation of actual or simulated sexual encounters or actions;
• Genitals being shown;
• Showing or using devices typically used during sex;
• Touching or being shown to touch someone's bottom, boobs or genitals; and,
• "The exhibition of sexual gesticulations using accessories or prosthetics that exaggerate male or female characteristics"

Changes present in the final version could also mean that it applies to private residences, Rep. Mary Gonzales warned.

"It could go into your homes and say what is allowed in your individual homes after the lines about a commercial enterprise were stricken out," Gonzales said. "This bill has very potential domino effects that we should be cognizant of, and I hope if it does pass that we will come back and fix the really broad interpretation of what can happen in personal and private homes."

The House voted 87-54 to confer with the the conference committee report.

Earlier this month, a hearing on the bill drew three hours of public comment. Nearly 400 people signed up to testify about the bill, KXAN previously reported.

One supporter of the bill, Luke Macias, agreed with this idea and felt that its broad reach would be a positive for Texans. Committee members asked Macias for his opinion on how the bill might affect professional cheerleaders, children’s menus at restaurants such as Hooters and R-rated movies.

“Worst case scenario, this bill also happens to extend to rated-R movies and theaters, that would be a huge blessing,” Macias said. “I think that would make Texas a better place and protect our children.”

Attorney Paul Hill, a self-proclaimed drag fan, spoke in opposition to the bill earlier this month.

“Prurient interest is in the eye of the beholder, and what a district judge in Travis County thinks is prurient may not be what somebody in Lubbock County thinks it is,” Hill said. “Parental rights and freedom are two things that the Republican Party loves, but that’s what this bill violates.”