ORLANDO, Fla. — LGBTQ-friendly restaurant chain Hamburger Mary’s is suing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over one of his state’s anti-drag laws, alleging that the law’s blanket prohibition against “children attending adult live performances” is affecting its business in Orlando and violating its free speech.
A recent wave of Republican legislation targeting drag shows, in multiple states, has attempted to redefine all drag shows as sexually explicit in order to classify them as “adult live performances.”
The owners of Hamburger Mary’s filed the federal lawsuit on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. They are seeking to halt enforcement of SB 1438, which the Republican governor and presumed presidential candidate signed into law last week along with other bills affecting the lives of LGBTQ+ Floridians.
Those bills, the Orlando Sentinel reported, took aim at “transgender treatments for minors, pronouns in schools, bathroom use and children attending drag shows” and instituted “penalties for venues letting children into adult live performances and potential first-degree misdemeanor charges for violators.”
The Hamburger Mary’s lawsuit also names Florida’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation Secretary Melanie Griffin as a defendant.
Threatening Prosecution Over Free Speech
Hamburger Mary’s restaurants, including the chain’s world-famous West Hollywood, California location, have long hosted popular drag performances, include bingo, trivia, comedy and a “family-friendly” Sunday brunch show.
After DeSantis’ signed the law, the Orlando Sentinel reported, Hamburger Mary’s “told customers that children would not be allowed at any drag shows and it lost 20% of its bookings for Sunday and future events.”
According to the lawsuit, the owners of Hamburger Mary’s “simply cannot take the chance that their business or liquor licenses would be suspended for hosting a drag show where children attend. In addition, the criminal penalties of the law put individuals at risk of prosecution because of the content of their speech.”
The broad, sweeping nature of the law, and the vagueness regarding what conduct is and is not prohibited, the lawsuit alleges, “will have a chilling effect on the First Amendment rights of the citizens of Florida.”
