Austin, Texas - Republican-priority bans on drag performances and books with LGBTQ+ representation have been temporarily blocked in Texas as a gender-affirming care ban for minors takes effect.

LGBTQ+ rights advocates celebrated a temporary injunction on Senate Bill 12 on Thursday, which would have placed severe restrictions on drag performances on public properties or in the presence of someone under the age of 18.

The law, signed by Governor Greg Abbott in June, prohibits the "exhibition or representation, actual or simulated, of male or female genitals in a lewd state" and "the exhibition of sexual gesticulations using accessories or prosthetics that exaggerate male or female sexual characteristics."

Experts warned that the measure would create a chilling effect and drastically limit freedom of expression in the state, and it could even extend to Broadway performances, theater plays, and cheerleading routines.

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"Based on evidence and testimony presented at the hearing, the court finds there is substantial likelihood that SB 12 as drafted violated the First Amendment of the United States Constitution under one or more of the legal theories put forward by the plaintiffs," US District Judge David Hittner wrote in his temporary restraining order after a two-day hearing in Houston earlier this week, adding that his final decision would come in two-to-four weeks' time.

On top of that, District Judge Alan D. Albright on Thursday said he will temporarily block House Bill 900, which requires vendors to rate all of their books for "sexually explicit material" before selling them to schools. Advocates say the legislation could effectively ban books with LGBTQ+ representation or themes.

Albright said his final written order will come in one-to-two weeks.

Both the drag and book bans were set to take effect on September 1 had the judges not intervened.

Meanwhile, the Texas Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed efforts to seeking a temporary injunction on the state's gender-affirming care ban, allowing it to take effect on September 1 as scheduled.

Senate Bill 14, signed by Abbott in June, bans health care professionals from providing puberty blockers, hormone treatments, or gender-affirming surgeries to most people under the age of 18.

Last week, a district court judge temporarily blocked the ban, but the Texas attorney general's office appealed the decision before the conservative-dominated state Supreme Court, which ruled in Republicans' favor.

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"Let’s be clear: Trans youth are loved and belong in Texas. We won’t stop until this cruel ban is struck down," the ACLU of Texas posted on X after the decision.

"No law, regardless of how unjust, can stop trans youth from existing."