The Advocate reports:
A Texas Republican lawmaker proposed a bill allowing everyday people to sue anybody who hosts or performs in drag where any child is in attendance. Critics say the measure will create a bounty-hunting culture that targets drag queens and transgender people.
Houston-area state Rep. Steve Toth filed HB 4378 on Thursday. He seeks to define “a cause of action for drag performances performed in the presence of a minor.” A winning plaintiff can expect to be paid actual damages, attorney’s fees, and statutory damages of $5,000.
The bill uses the same tactics of the controversial 2021 SB 8 in Texas, which gave private citizens the right to sue anybody they thought could have been involved with any part of an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.
Read the full article. Rep. Steve Toth last appeared here in March 2022 when he agreed with an OAN host that it was long past time for the United States to invade Mexico. In 2021, Toth appeared here for his bill to restrict lessons on historical racism. In October 2020, Toth teamed up with a notorious anti-LGBTQ activist in a failed bid to throw out 127,000 Houston-area votes made through their new drive-thru polling stations.
BREAKING: Taking a page from the anti-abortion fight in Texas, a Republican lawmaker wants to make everyday citizens bounty hunters looking for drag queens.
A new proposed bill allows everyday people to sue anybody who hosts or performs in drag where any child is in attendance.
— Antonio Arellano (@AntonioArellano) March 13, 2023
Houston-area state Rep. @Toth_4_Texas filed HB 4378 on Thursday. He seeks to define “a cause of action for drag performances performed in the presence of a minor.”
He’s making everyday Texans bounty hunters as they did with SB 8 and abortion.https://t.co/kmqQ8KfY9V— Christopher Wiggins (@CWNewser) March 12, 2023