Dress For Success(ful Litigation)

Texas Republican wants 'bounty hunting' law that would target drag queens https://t.co/hBcTX5hCNk

— Raw Story (@RawStory) March 13, 2023

Activists have warned this bill's language is so broad it could essentially ban any kind of public performance by a person dressed other than in clothing associated with their gender assigned at birth. 

"For example, transgender rights activist and reporter Erin Reed points out that the bill could potentially bar Grammy-winning singer Kim Petras, the first out trans person to win the coveted award for best pop performance by a duo or group, from performing in Texas," said the report. "'These bounties can easily be turned against trans performers,' Reed wrote. 'It could ban a trans person singing karaoke. It could ban pride.'"

 Can it ban me from wearing a pink shirt? Or using my middle name (Madison) which is now a girl’s name?

I’m perfectly serious and not at all arguing with the people quoted. But there is no possible legal definition of “clothing associated with their gender at birth.” Skirts and dresses can only be worn by women; but kilts? I can remember when a woman wore pants (a “pants suit,” actually) to church, and all the ladies (my mother included) gossiped about it for weeks. And then they started wearing pants, too. And I still want to know if ladies wearing men’s clothes (once the fashion rage, especially as women tried to “dress for success”) l* will be banned. How can it not be, with that “definition”?

In the 19th century pink was a “strong” color (no idea why) and so masculine. Blue was weak, and so feminine. Assigned at birth?

It doesn’t stand up to the first examination. Which is not to say these laws are not bad. They are terrible. A waste of legislative resources (the Lege only has 6 months in all of session; there are better things to do), judicial resources (laws like this will get bounced at first judicial contact, then waste everyone’s time in appeals), and personal resources. Who wants to spend money defending a showing of a Monty Python film?

This is what happens when you let the inmates run the asylum.

*Is anyone showing a Demi Moore movie going to be subject to this law?