Laredo’s drag performers, bar owners and allies navigate restrictive new law in Texas

Senate Bill 12, a Texas law, took effect for the first time in March 2026 after a two and a half year freeze, forcing drag performers and the LGBTQIA+ community in Laredo, Texas to adjust.

Serene Fantasea created her drag persona as a “goth, hot Cheetah girl, someone fearless, unapologetic and spontaneous.” Outside of drag, Fantasea is shy and reserved, but when she has the wig and makeup on, she gains confidence.

“It’s like putting a cape on,” she said.“I feel powerful.”

With 11 years of drag experience, Fantasea had always dreamed of making her own music. 

“My music is very R-rated,” she said. “It’s very explicit and it’s sexual, too.”

While preparing to release her first EP, called B*tch EP, in 2023, SB 12 was signed into law. Promoters suddenly became hesitant in hosting her EP release.

Replay Bar & Patio, the last gay bar in Laredo, closed in December 2025 due to insufficient financial support. LGBTQIA+ communities rely on allied bars to host events like drag shows and brunches.

Edwin Martinez, co-owner of Wickedly Twisted Entertainment, an LLC that hosts drag performances in Laredo, saw the shift in changes after the bill was passed in March.

“Venues have been more cautious of how we approach these shows,even how we advertise them sometimes,” Martinez said.

Bar owners say they want to help the LGBTQIA+ communities to host drag events and also create a safe space for everyone participating.

Sandra Rocha-Taylor, owner of Frontera Beer and Wine Garden, an LGBTQIA+ allied bar in Laredo, tried to get more information about the bill.

“I called our local policemen that I know and asked if they would arrest me,” she said. “They said ‘if someone complains we have to investigate.’ I think that’s why they hesitate.”

Fantasea eventually found Ivy Bar and Lounge, a newly opened bar, to host her EP release party earlier this year.

“They took a chance on me,” she said.

For the protection of the bar, Fantasea censored some of her more sexually explicit productions.

“I wanted to perform with a penis piñata or something… for adults,” she said. “Maybe if this law wasn’t around, I would’ve been able to perform at more bars freely.”

Although Fantasea focuses her performances for adults, when booked to cover family-event shows like Gateway City Pride Festival, she curates a show that’s kid friendly.

 “They know their audience… and so they dress accordingly,” Jorge Quijano, president and founder of Gateway City Pride, said.

What is Senate Bill 12?

State lawmakers passed Senate Bill 12 to take effect on Sept. 1, 2023 during the 88th legislative session. The law restricts “sexually oriented performances” in public spaces or in front of children.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas sued the State of Texas on behalf of drag performers and organizations to block the law. After two and a half years of court battle, an appeals court ruled the law can be enforced starting on March 18, 2026.

Chloe Kempf, an attorney with the ACLU Texas, said the law is too vague.

“It’s so unclear that people can’t exactly know what it’s referring to and what the law prohibits versus what the law allows,” she said.

SB 12 is not only exclusive to drag performances, but any performances that can be deemed “sexual.”

“It could apply to Bad Bunny himself, depending on his dance moves, if it were considered sexual to sexually explicit, if he was wearing accessories that enhanced his masculinity or femininity…,” Kempf said. … That’s why SB 12 is so harmful.”

In September 2023, U.S. District Judge David Hittner found Senate Bill 12 “infringes on the First Amendment,” delaying implementation of the law.

Venues that host these shows can be fined up to $10,000, while penalties for individual performers can be a year of jail time with a fine up to $2,000.

“The bill does not ban drag,” said Kempf. “But it does create an atmosphere where people are rightfully fearful that certain drag performances will be criminalized and prohibited under the law.”

Kempf added that there have been no confirmed reports of Senate Bill 12 being enforced.

“Family-friendly drag shows are not even coming close to violating this law,” she said.

Kempf said the ACLU will continue to challenge the case in court.

“We’re asking the court to clarify this law, narrow it, but essentially overturn it because it’s too vague and too broad to be on the books,” she said.

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