A federal judge ruled that St. George, Utah, violated the U.S. constitution when it denied a permit to a drag show, and must allow the all-ages event to go ahead in a public park.
"Public spaces are public spaces. Public spaces are not private spaces. Public spaces are not majority spaces," wrote U.S. District Judge David Nuffer, granting a preliminary injunction requested by Southern Utah Drag Stars. "The First Amendment of the United States Constitution ensures that all citizens, popular or not, majority or minority, conventional or unconventional, have access to public spaces for public expression."
City officials used a funny trick to try and get rid of the drag show: one told the group they could advertise the event before obtaining a permit, then denied them it because they advertised the events before obtaining permit. Judge Nuffer was not impressed, describing the previously unenforced ordnance cited by them as a "pretext for discrimination."
