City in Utah Hit With Lawsuit Over Alleged Discrimination Against Drag Shows

The owner of Southern Utah Drag Stars and the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah have filed a lawsuit against the City of St. George and several councilmembers for alleged discrimination against drag performances and LGBTQ+ events, which they believe violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

“Drag is dance, fashion, and music — it is also deeply rooted in political speech — all protected by the First Amendment,” said Emerson Sykes, Senior Staff Attorney with the ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. “This is the latest offense in a larger pattern of attacks discriminating against gender-diverse and LGBTQ+ people and their rights in Utah and throughout the country.”

According to the ACLU, Mitski Avalōx, the CEO of Southern Utah Drag Stars, applied for a special events permit on March 3 to host a family-friendly drag event called the Allies & Community Drag Show Festival at J.C. Snow Park. The city reportedly denied her application a few weeks later, citing that Avalōx has violated an advertising ordinance.

Read the source article at abc4.com