Southern Utah Drag Stars and Mitski Avaloz v. City of Saint George, et al., No. 4:23-cv-00044-DN-PK. Opinion and Injunction entered June 16, 2023; Plaintiff’s election filed June 24, 2023.

The federal court in Utah has ordered the City of Saint George, Utah, to permit Southern Utah Drag Stars to perform publicly, having observed violations of the First and Fourteenth Amendments will cause irreparable harm if a contemplated event does not go forward.

In introducing the court’s extensive review of a series of events and official acts that, absent judicial intervention, would have silenced the Southern Utah Drag Stars in St. George, the court reminded all that governing officials are trustees of the rights of all, not just the rights of those who support them or those interests they concur with. The current case, the court offered, provides an opportunity for all to revisit the principles that made the First Amendment central to the founding of the United States.

The Southern Utah Drag Stars and its founder, Mitski Avaloz, faced a slalom course of rules and regulations not enforced against others when they applied for a permit to perform a public celebration of dance intended to express inclusion of diverse persons and points of view.

When the troupe applied for a permit to hold an event in St. George, the city denied its issuance, citing violation of a rule precluding pre-permitting advertising which had never before been enforced and from which all entities but the Southern Utah Drag Stars were exempted.

The city next declared a six month moratorium on public events permitting.

The contemplated drag event caused great concern among the public, particularly as many feared that children would be exposed to adult entertainment.

Internecine battles erupted between the City Manager, who thought refusal to permit would be unconstitutional, and the City Council, which tended toward agreement with the citizens’ concerns. (Following a forced resignation, the City Manager’s claim for wrongful termination was settled for more than six hundred thousand dollars.)

In reviewing plaintiff’s request for injunctive relief, the court observed that the drag event was not excepted from First Amendment protections by the allegation that the performance would be obscene. Even if a legitimate interest, concern for children could not serve as a justification for forbidding the Southern Utah Drag Stars’ performance, particularly where no evidence had been adduced that children would be impacted by the event.

The federal court found that the city’s theretofore unenforced ordinance precluding pre-permitting advertising imposed prior restraints on speech that were both overly broad and vague. Officials enforcement of the ordinance against plaintiffs but not against others was seen as unlawful discrimination based on both content and viewpoint.

The contemplated preclusion of any performance would clearly cause the plaintiffs to be irreparably harmed, the court concluded.

The record before the court indicated to the judge that the most rare and rigorous relief would be awarded: a mandatory injunction compelling permitting and performance.

A June 30th public Southern Utah Drag Stars event has been planned.

Southern Utah Drag Stars v. City of St. George Injunction June 16, 2023

Southern Utah Drag Stars v. City of St. George Election June 21, 2023