U.S. District Judge John Steele ruled on Monday that Naples city officials violated free speech rights.
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Naples Pride will be able to host drag shows in the sunshine. But the cost to put on their programming in the Florida city remains an open question.
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U.S. District Judge John Steele ruled on Monday that Naples city officials violated free speech rights by issuing an event permit with a condition that Naples Pride host its drag performances indoors and limit attendance to those age 18 and older. The city’s action prompted Naples Pride to sue the city in April.
Related: Naples Pride sues city after its security costs 'skyrocketed' amid fears of anti-trans protests
The judge said the city, by imposing restrictions with no basis in law, violated the First Amendment.
“The City’s requirement of an indoor location for the drag performance, even if a good faith attempt to mitigate risk, is clearly viewpoint and content based,” he wrote. “… A restriction imposed on speech deemed immoral or scandalous is clearly a viewpoint-based restriction.”
Steele was nominated to the federal bench by President Bill Clinton in 2000.
The city also initially intended to charge Naples Pride $36,000 in security costs for the event, far more than similar-sized events at the same Campier Park venue. But Steele said those costs were exorbitant.
That said, the judge ruled Naples can charge appropriate security fees and ordered officials to re-evaluate its invoicing for the event. He did not specify an appropriate rate.
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“It is undisputed that Naples Pride and the public are entitled to security at Pridefest, and that some security fee can be properly assessed,” Steele’s order reads. “The precise amount subject to dispute cannot be accurately computed at this time.”
That leaves it uncertain what costs Naples Pride will be asked to pay, though it should be less than the original estimates.
“We just hope the City Council won’t bend the knee to opposition and stay the course,” said Callhan Soldavini, an attorney for Naples Pride, “and they affirm we are a wonderful community where hate has no home and propose fees within constitutional principles.”
Soldavini said the organization is prepared to pay comparable security costs with other events, but will re-enter litigation if costs charged in new invoices remain out of line.
Naples Pride launched in 2017, taking two years off for COVID-19. But the city fees and restrictions were only imposed after Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an anti-drag law in 2023. The governor was notably coming after licenses for venues hosting drag shows months before the Legislature even considered the law.
But the federal courts said Florida cannot enforce the ban, which prohibits live performances of a sexual nature if all ages can attend. Regardless, Naples Pride organizers say shows at the event have always been family-friendly, something Steele acknowledges in his ruling.
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