The city of Milwaukee issued a check for $20,000 to the Milwaukee Gay
Arts Center on Wednesday after a court rules a forced closure of
Naked Boys Singing! was unconstitutional.
The city ordered that the musical close in August 2005 in the face of content complaints and licensing suspicion, according toPlaybill. City ordinances mandated that the Common Council of Milwaukee, which was not scheduled to meet until after the show’s run would have ended, review the license.
The Gay Arts Center’s nonprofit status, however, allowed for a settlement in its favor. Nonprofits are not required to undergo the same licensing procedures as for-profit organizations in Milwaukee. The city awarded the group a $20,000 settlement and clarified the licensing procedure for nonprofits.
"Requiring any theater to get a license before putting on a play comes dangerously close to the kind of 'prior restraint' on speech the First Amendment was designed to prohibit," said Larry Dupuis, American Civil Liberties Union
Wisconsin legal director. "We are pleased that the city has clarified the process so that nonprofits will know they are not required to get a license. However, we continue to believe that the city should amend its ordinance to limit the time the city has to issue any theater license. It's too easy for the authorities to just delay giving the permit to performances they don't like."
The Milwaukee production was the fourth production of the show to be forcibly closed by local authorities. Previous closures include Atlanta; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Provincetown, Mass.
Naked Boys Singing! is currently running at New World Stages in New York City.
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