Fictional names

A legal columnist highlights a Texas federal judge's ruling on a law banning public drag shows, seizing on the footnote clarifying that 'Brigitte Bandit' is a pseudonym and on the law's definition of 'nude,' which could technically cover a bent-over plumber. The ruling also questions whether fake breasts count as nudity under the statute.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, defending the law while running for Senate, called a psychiatrist and pharmacologist to testify about harm to children from explicit material; the expert admitted at trial he'd never personally seen serious harm from a drag show or any performance the law targets. The judge, per the column, was not impressed.

The ruling apparently never addresses how children ended up at the drag shows lawmakers were worried about protecting them from, a gap the columnist flags without further comment.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.