Drag show, ACLU file lawsuit against St. George after city's permit denial
The organizers of a popular drag show joined with the ACLU on Tuesday to announce they are suing the City of St. George over alleged discrimination in denying the group an event permit to host a show at a city park.
The Southern Utah Drag Stars, which had planned an "all-ages" show for April, accuse the city of "violations of their free speech, due process, and equal protection rights," according to a complaint filed in federal court. The group is asking for damages and for the city to reverse its decision and allow the group to host a show at the end of June.
"With this filing we continue our commitment to stop efforts to discriminate against and silence LGBTQ+ and gender-diverse individuals in Utah," said Valentina De Fex, the senior staff attorney with the ACLU of Utah.
In public comment periods held ahead of council meetings since, the city has heard from crowds of residents making arguments for or against drag, with many making claims that the events are dangerous to children or don't represent the community's values.
Anti-drag activists in Utah and throughout the United States have cast the artform, which often involves dressing and acting exaggeratedly as another gender for entertainment, as sexually deviant and a subversive attempt to influence children.
Avalōx, who goes by she and they pronouns, founded Southern Utah Drag Stars after the fallout, hoping to showcase drag for members of the LGBTQ+ community in a rural place where such forms of entertainment are often lacking.
“I made it my mission to continue to do these events and not just one month out of the year, but to do so people that were like me when I was little ... can see that there are queer adults that get to live a long and fulfilled life,” Avalōx said in an interview. “My biggest ambition was to provide a public space where people can go to a park and enjoy a show that’s meant for everyone.”
Avalōx said that Drag Stars intended to host a show in a St. George city park in April and were told by a city events coordinator that they could start advertising before obtaining a permit. The city council later denied the group's permit, citing an ordinance that forbids advertising before permit approval.
St. George declined to comment on the lawsuit but its city attorney at the time defended its enforcement of the ordinance and the events coordinator denied approving a request from Avalōx to begin advertising.
In their complaint, Avalōx and lawyers with the ACLU frame St. George's decision to deny them event permits as part of a broader nationwide assault on drag performers and, accuse the city of “flagrant and ongoing violations of their free speech, due process, and equal protection rights."
They argue that St. George invoked an ordinance that had never been enforced in a manner that was selective and discriminatory toward the LGBTQ+ community.
“The City has employed its unfettered discretion under the ordinances to discriminatorily enforce them,” they argue in the complaint.
The complaint also says city councilwoman Michelle Tanner has been “stoking conflict” and broadly fostering an anti-LGBTQ climate in St. George, including by accusing those who perform in drag in front of children of “predatory behavior.”
The lawsuit marks the latest in an ongoing series of drag and LGBTQ+-related controversies in St. George over the past year, with organizers of drag shows and other events saying they've run into unusual pushback from the city and its large conservative majorities.
Some residents complained after cast members of the HBO feature "We're Here" hosted a nighttime drag show last summer at the city's Town Square Park downtown, an event that drew large crowds and was featured in an episode of the HBO show.
A state representative from the area tried to pass a new law that would require warning notices to be posted ahead of events like drag shows or pride parades.
Earlier this year, the council found itself in another LGBTQ+-related controversy when the city's support of a downtown farmer's market drew the ire of residents who said the market's owners were using it to publicize a separate drag show event.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
This article originally appeared on St. George Spectrum & Daily News: St. George sued over denial of drag show event permit
