The ACLU Sues Loogootee, Indiana for Blocking a Pride Festival
metroweekly.comfirst-ever PrideFest, last year at the Public Square, a parcel of city-owned property at the center of the town. Approximately 200 people attended the event, held without disruption.PrideFest’s organizers, the Patoka Valley AIDS Community Action Group, expected it would be green-lit this year and filed an application in November 2023 to hold it on September 7, 2024.
At the time, the city council approved the request.However, the Loogootee City Council later passed two new ordinances that changed the application process for using city property, and the failed to vote on a resubmitted application from PrideFest organizers, according to the ACLU’s lawsuit, which was filed in U.S.
District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.In February, the council passed the first ordinance, which overhauled the procedure for staging events in public spaces.
This resulted in PrideFest’s initial permit being revoked.The ordinance stated that public events and gatherings should be held at Loogootee City Park, though the Public Square could still be requested through an application processMoving PrideFest to Loogootee City Park, which is far from the city center, would remove PrideFest from public view.The February ordinance also required that organizers of events wishing to use public property other than Loogootee City Park submit a request to the Board of Public Works and Safety and the city council.
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