After being delayed for more than a week, Senate Bill 12 — which would prohibit “certain sexually oriented performances on public property, on the premises of a commercial enterprise or in the presence of a child” and would authorize civil penalties and create a criminal offense — is headed to the floor of the House for a vote on Friday, May 19.
BUT language that included drag performances in the definition of “sexually oriented performances” has been deleted from the bill.
That change is due — at the very least in part — to the efforts of Dallas businessmen who traveled to Austin last week to lobby against the measure.
Mike Ngyuen, CEO of Caven Enterprises, and Arthur Hood of HV Entertainment, which owns the soon-to-open Hamburger Mary’s in Oak Lawn, traveled to Austin last week, taking with them four drag performers —Cassie Nova, Jenna Skyy, Bleach and Rocky Tacoma — to talk with lawmakers about the bill.