Murfreesboro agrees to pay $500K settlement with BoroPride, ACLU
The Murfreesboro government has agreed to pay $500,000 and repeal an ordinance discriminatory to LGBTQ+ people to settle a lawsuit with BoroPride, the ACLU announced Wednesday.
The American Civil Liberties Union provided legal representation with BoroPride annual festival organizers with the Tennessee Equality Project led by Chris Sanders, according to an ACLU press release.
"We celebrate the resolution of this case because it has guaranteed the rollback of a discriminatory policy and affirmed our right to host BoroPride," Sanders said in the press release. “Now we can turn our attention to preparing for the 2024 BoroPride festival and defending the rights of LGBTQ+ Tennesseans at the state legislature. Our gratitude goes to the LGBTQ+ community for standing with us and to the legal advocates who championed the defense of free speech and expression.”
The issue started October 2022 when Murfreesboro City Manager Craig Tindall sent a letter to BoroPride organizers telling them the city would deny future permits and accused the 2022 LGBTQ+ festival and drag show of exposing “children to a harmful prurient interest.”
BoroPride attracted more than 7,000 people to the 2022 festival held at Cannonsburgh Village, a Murfreesboro historic parks and recreation property off U.S. Highway 41 and across the street from nearby City Hall in the downtown area.
Festival organizers relocated the 2023 BoroPride to Tennessee Miller Coliseum in north Murfreesboro. The coliseum property is owned by Middle Tennessee State University.
City ordinance sparks lawsuit
The Murfreesboro City Council also voted 6-1 on a community decency standards ordinance that BoroPride organizers contend violated First Amendment rights of LGBTQ+ people.
Murfreesboro Vice Mayor Bill Shacklett opposed the ordinance and mentioned his concerns about the code causing books to be banned at Rutherford County Public Library System.
The council by December agreed to unanimously repeal the controversial ordinance to settle the lawsuit.
Others involved with representing BoroPride are Ballard Spahr, and Burr & Forman, the ACLU press release said.
Book banning: Library supporters upset by board pulling 4 books say they're 'fighting against censorship'
ACLU seeks to protect free speech rights for LGBTQ+
The $500,000 settlement compensates for harm caused, reimburses attorneys’ fees, repeals the anti-LGBTQ+ ordinance, and accepts and processes any future event permit applications from BoroPride organizers, according to the press release.
The Murfreesboro city manager is prohibited under the terms from reviewing any future permit requests from the Tennessee Equality Project (TEP), the press release said.
"The parties filed suit in federal court after Tindall and Murfreesboro Mayor Shane McFarland engaged in a yearlong, concerted anti-LGBTQ+ campaign to chill TEP and Murfreesboro residents’ protected speech and expression," the press release said.
The press release described the repealed ordinance as being vague and designed to censor any LGBTQ+ speech or conduct within the Murfreesboro community and from TEP.
In light of the settlement, the parties are filing a dismissal of the case this week, bringing the lawsuit to a close, according to the press release.
“The government has no right to censor LGBTQ+ people and expression," the press release said. "More important than the monetary recovery, this settlement sends a clear message that the city’s discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community was blatantly unconstitutional and that this type of behavior will no longer be tolerated here – or anywhere across the country.”
Reach reporter Scott Broden with news tips or questions by emailing him at sbroden@dnj.com. To support his work with The Daily News Journal, sign up for a digital subscription.
About BoroPride festival
When was the LGBTQ+ festival scheduled for all ages: Oct. 28
Where was event held for all ages: Tennessee Miller Coliseum at 304 W. Thompson Lane in north Murfreesboro
Admission: free for all BoroPride events
When and where is BoroPride Drag Show for those 18 and up: 9 p.m. Oct. 28 at Austin Audio, 707 W. Main St. in downtown Murfreesboro
When and where is The BoroPride Drag Pageant for those 18 and up: 11 a.m. Oct. 28 at Austin Audio, and the newly crowned court will appear at evening drag show
What will be at event for all ages at Miller Coliseum: a main stage with live music and other entertainment, games, Pride Dog costume contest, community information tables, vendors and "your favorite food trucks," says Leslie Russell Yost, one of the BoroPride organizers
Inaugural year: 2016
Initial location: Grounds of historic Rutherford County Courthouse in the center of Murfreesboro's downtown Public Square
Date of 2022 festival: Sept. 17
Location for 2022 event: Cannonsburgh Village, an historical parks and recreation property in downtown Murfreesboro off Front Street and across Northwest Broad Street (U.S. Highway 41) from nearby Murfreesboro City Hall
Attendance at 2022 event: More than 7,000
Total BoroPride festivals so far: Seven
Note: BoroPride skipped 2020 in the first year of COVID-19 pandemic
Source: Leslie Russell Yost, BoroPride festival committee
This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: Murfreesboro settles with BoroPride in LGBTQ+ discrimination suit
