Spectrum WT v. Wendler is one of the easiest First Amendment cases the federal courts heard this year — or in any other year. The question is whether a government official can ban drag shows.

The obvious answer to this question is no. The government cannot ban drag for the same reason it cannot ban stand-up comedy, musical theatre, kabuki, noh, opera, koothu, or mime. If you really need an explainer on why the First Amendment doesn’t permit the government to ban an entire theatrical style, I wrote that piece here.

As the Supreme Court said in Southeastern Promotions v. Conrad (1975), a strikingly similar case about a municipal government’s attempt to bar performance of the musical “Hair,” “only if we were to conclude that live drama is unprotected by the First Amendment — or subject to a

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