Pittsford relents on security fee for drag story hour

The town of Pittsford on Wednesday backed down on a demand for $8,500 in additional security costs for a drag story hour at the town community center following protests from the New York Civil Liberties Union, state legislators and town residents.

The nonprofit organization holding the event, Pittsford CommUNITY, earlier decided to relocate to Book Culture, a bookstore in the village of Pittsford, in the face of the security fee, and it will remain there this Saturday from 2 to 3 p.m. There now will be another similar event at the community center next Sunday, April 23, also from 2 to 3 p.m.

Pittsford CommUNITY earlier this year reserved a room in the community center for an hourlong storytelling and children's event featuring three drag performers. After hearing from protesters, the town told the organization it would have to pay $8,500 for security and additional staffing due to "reasonable concerns for public safety."

That led to a heated community debate over the appropriateness of the event itself and also of the town's actions, including a remark by Supervisor Bill Smith that the organizers were "a group of people desperate to seek (victim status)."

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On April 9, attorneys from the NYCLU protested in writing to town leaders, calling the proposed fee a "prior restraint" — that is, a form of government censorship that blocks legally protected speech from occurring. They cited the 1992 U.S. Supreme Court case Forsyth County v. Nationalist Movement, in which a Georgia county was barred from increasing its event permit fee to cover anticipated security costs related to a white nationalist rally.

"The town’s imposition of the proposed fee here — which went from $0 to $8,518 — is explicitly based on the content of CommUNITY’s message and on the hostility of anticipated protests, and it is therefore squarely prohibited by Forsyth," the NYCLU lawyers wrote.

Two days later, a group of about 40 Pittsford residents who work in higher education wrote an open letter to Smith criticizing the town for its actions.

"It is disappointing to see the efforts of our own elected government leaders stifle free expression within our community and erode community members’ sense of belonging," they wrote. "While there have been complaints about the event — many based on ignorance and mischaracterization — permitting the event and protest of the event allows necessary dialogue to happen within households and communities in a way that displacing the event will not."

The Human Rights Campaign, too, called on the town to reverse course, warning that the pushback to the event was "part of (a) campaign to curtail the rights of LGBTQ+ people." The local state legislative delegation criticized the town for requesting "an unconscionable fee."

In a response to the NYCLU on Wednesday, Smith said the town would drop its requirement for additional security at the April 23 event and any future events.

"Having to defend a controversial lawsuit easily could result in an expenditure of taxpayer funds far more burdensome than the costs involved in providing security," Smith wrote. "It would negate the Town's good faith effort to spare taxpayers the cost imposed by the event."

Pittsford CommUNITY has said it will provide its own security for the events, and the Monroe County Sheriff's Office plans to monitor from outside.

In a statement, the organization called on the town to roll back policy changes that would prohibit many previously accepted uses of the community center and other town facilities -- in particular, barring their use for events open to the public.

The April 15 event will take place at Book Culture, 28 S. Main St., from 2 to 3 p.m. The April 23 event will take place at the Pittsford Community Center, 35 Lincoln Ave., from 2 to 3 p.m.

The drag performers will be Psy Kodick, October Selene and Valentino Rose. Pizza and lemonade will be provided.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Pittsford won't demand security fee for drag story hour