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Twin Cities Pride Battles Antigay Activist

Twin Cities Pride Battles Antigay Activist

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Minneapolis gay rights groups may head to court to keep an antigay protester out of the Twin Cities Pride Festival.

Representatives from Twin Cities Pride say a permit they received from the Minneapolis Park Board should allow them to forbid antigay activist Brian Johnson entrance to the celebration.

According to a Minneapolis news station, the parks board will not forbid Johnson from the event because they believe he has the right to enter public property, even if a group has a permit to use the property for an allotted time.

Johnson held booths at previous Minneapolis gay-pride festivals, but last year organizers asked him not to return.

Johnson was arrested at the 2009 Twin Cities Pride for trespassing when he refused to leave a sidewalk, where he was shouting antigay speech.

Pride officials cite a 1995 Supreme Court case, Hurley v. Irish-American Gay Group, as the argument for their stance. In the case the Supreme Court ruled in favor of parade organizers who denied participation to a gay group. The Court said allowing the Irish-American gay group to march was a violation of First Amendment rights of the parade organizers, who did not support pro-gay messages.

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