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ACLU Sues Chattanooga Over Gay Pride Parade Permit
Says City Violates Constitutional Rights to Free Expression

Chattanooga, TN (EGCM) The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit
accusing the City of Chattanooga and city officials of violating the U.S.
Constitution by denying a group of lesbians and gay men a permit for a parade
to commemorate its annual gay pride day.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of
Tennessee by the ACLU's national Lesbian and Gay Rights Project and the ACLU of
Tennessee, also says that the City's process for obtaining parade permits
violates the U.S. Constitution by not clearly defining criteria necessary to
receive permission for a parade or march. Filed on behalf of the Chattanooga
Lesbian and Gay Pride Committee, the lawsuit seeks to force the City to provide
a permit for the gay pride parade and seeks to require the City Council to
adopt a constitutional permit application process.

"This is a classic case of censorship," said Marc E. Elovitz, Staff Counsel to
the ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights Project and the lead attorney on the case. "It
appears clear that the permit the group sought was denied because of the
content of the message -- precisely what the First Amendment prohibits."

Last year, the Chattanooga Lesbian and Gay Pride Committee held its first
observation of gay pride day with a march of approximately 100 participants on
city sidewalks. This year, however, the organizers of the parade estimated that
the celebration would grow dramatically, with over 200 participants and several
floats expected.  Given its size, the committee recognized that the parade
would no longer be able to be confined to the city sidewalks. The group sought
and received a permit to utilize a city park, but was not given a permit for
the parade route to the park that it desired; the City Council, on its own
initiative, instead re-routed the parade in a way unacceptable to the Parade
committee.

"We are proud to host such a large parade this year and we will not be deterred
in our celebration of gay pride by those who would rather not have us around,"
said Susan Nicholas, the Co-Chair of the Chattanooga Lesbian and Gay Pride
Committee and a named plaintiff in the case. "This is our parade, not the
city's, and we will pursue our legal rights to secure the parade we want to
have, not the one they want to give us."

Gay Pride parades are held in many cities across the country each June to
commemorate the June 1969 Stonewall uprising in New York City when patrons of
the Stonewall Inn gay bar fought back against a police raid, touching off
several days of protest. In memorializing the Stonewall riots, the annual June
events throughout the United States celebrate the birth of the modern lesbian
and gay rights movement and perpetuate lesbian and gay pride. Ranging from
massive demonstrations in New York and Los Angeles to smaller gatherings
throughout the United States, annual gay pride parades are important forums for
lesbians and gay men to exercise their First Amendment rights to free speech
and association.

"As sure as there are gay pride marches, there are attempts to silence them,"
said William B. Rubenstein, Director of the ACLU's national Lesbian and Gay
Rights Project.

"Nearly every year we are confronted with denials of parade permits,"
Rubenstein said. "The ACLU has litigated such cases in the past few years from
Long Island to Long Beach, and we will continue to protect vigilantly the
rights of lesbian and gay Americans to uncensored expression of gay pride."

The Tennessee lawsuit asks the Court to quickly decide the case and order the
City Council to issue all of the permits the committee needs to hold its parade
on June 13.

"We hope for a quick resolution of this case so lesbian and gay Chattanoogans
can exercise their First Amendment rights and celebrate gay pride on June 13,"
said Hedy Weinberg, Executive Director of the ACLU of Tennessee. "And in the
long-term, we hope to force the City Council to institute clear and unambiguous
requirements for issuing permits to avoid controversies like this in the
future."

In addition to Elovitz and Rubenstein, plaintiffs are represented by Ruth E.
Harlow, Associate Director of the ACLu Lesbian and Gay Rights Project, and Jay
Ku, a private attorney in Chattanooga who is operating as a cooperating
attorney for the ACLU of Tennessee.

Contacts: Hedy Weinberg, Tennessee ACLU; 615-320-7143.  Phil Guits; Media
Relations Office; American Civil Liberties Union; 132 West 43rd Street; New
York, NY  10036; Voice 212-944-9800-623; Fax 212-869-9065.  Be sure to mention
in your correspondence that you heard of this through The Electronic Gay
Community Magazine.

The entire contents of The Electronic Gay Community Magazine are
Copyright 1993 by The Land of Awes Computer Information System (telephone
316-269-0913 Voice, 316-269-4208 FAX/BBS) but may be reproduced by any means
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--- Land of Awes
 * Origin: Copyright 1993 Electronic Gay Community Mag. 316-269-4208 (207:1/10)