Hamburger Mary's spent three years telling Florida it had no right to keep children out of its drag performances.
Eight federal judges just told them they were wrong.
Here's what the court said — and why every state in America is watching what happens next.
Eight Judges Just Called It What It Is: Obscenity
The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit vacated the preliminary injunction that had blocked Florida's Protection of Children Act since 2023.
That's not a razor-thin legal debate – eight judges agreed the restaurant never had a real case.
Judge Andrew Brasher wrote it plainly for the majority: keeping children out of adult live performances obscene for their age is "rationally related to Florida's interest in safeguarding the well-being of minors."
The law targets live shows that, under the statute's language, depict or simulate nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, lewd conduct, or the exposure of prosthetic or imitation genitals – and only when all three prongs of the Supreme Court's obscenity standard from Miller v. California are met.
https://twitter.com/RonDeSantis/status/2084700102925402211?s=20
Florida didn't invent a new standard – it applied the one the Supreme Court established in 1973 to protect children.
Florida AG James Uthmeier put it plainly on X: "Huge victory for our team at the 11th Circuit! After 3 years of litigation, the full court affirmed the constitutionality of Florida's ban on children attending sexualized drag shows."
DeSantis didn't hold back either: "This shouldn't even be controversial, yet our law protecting kids required us to fend off lawsuits and win a case before a divided appellate court."
He's right.
This Is Bigger Than Florida
This fight didn't start in Orlando and it isn't ending there.
Tennessee passed its Adult Entertainment Act in 2023 and took the same beating – lower courts blocked it, activists sued, liberal judges lectured the state about the First Amendment.
The 6th Circuit let the law stand in 2024.
The Supreme Court refused to hear the challenge in February 2025.
Two major federal circuits – the 6th and now the 11th – have sided with states keeping children away from sexually explicit performances.
Every state legislature watching this fight just got the same instruction: mirror the Miller obscenity test, require all three prongs, and the courts will back you up.
https://twitter.com/OwenGregorian/status/2084994935887958216?s=20
That's exactly what Florida did.
The restaurant at the center of this case had been running Sunday drag shows billed as "family friendly" and inviting children.
When the law passed, they pulled the plug on those performances and stopped letting minors through the door.
That decision tells you everything.
The Obama-appointed dissenter, Judge Robin Rosenbaum, complained the law "wields a Titanic-sized iceberg of chilling power against protected speech."
The majority wasn't persuaded.
They noted the obvious: a business that stopped inviting children to sexually explicit performances isn't being silenced – it's being held to the same standard as every adult entertainment venue in America.
The Left Is Running the Same Play Everywhere
The Left's legal strategy in these cases is identical every time.
File a lawsuit claiming vagueness.
Find a sympathetic district judge to block enforcement.
Run out the clock while children keep attending performances the legislature already called obscene.
The 11th Circuit just pulled the plug on three years of that strategy.
https://twitter.com/AGJamesUthmeier/status/2084668048112341393?s=20
The five dissenters didn't argue the law was poorly written – they argued the businesses challenging it couldn't know which performances crossed the line.
The majority's answer was simple: all three prongs of the Miller test must be met before any performance is prohibited.
That's not a gray area – that's a standard that's been on the books since 1973.
The left made this case last three years on purpose – because every month that injunction was held was another month children could attend performances Florida had already deemed obscene.
That's over now.
Sources:
- Jasmine Baehr, "Federal appeals court clears way for DeSantis-backed law restricting children at some drag shows," Fox News, August 4, 2026.
- "Three-Year Culture War Fight Ends With Major Win For DeSantis," Daily Wire, August 4, 2026.
- "11th Circuit revives Florida's ban on kids attending drag shows," Courthouse News Service, August 4, 2026.
- "SCOTUS tosses challenge to TN law banning drag shows with kids present, state AG hails decision," Fox News, February 27, 2025.
