(C) Daily Montanan This story was originally published by Daily Montanan and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Judge to decide if drag ban will be in place during Montana Pride – Daily Montanan [1] ['Nicole Girten', 'More From Author', '- July'] Date: 2023-07-26 Montana Pride will go forward in Helena, but after a federal court hearing Wednesday it’s still unclear if the law banning drag in public spaces will be in place. U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris did not issue a decision on the plaintiff’s request for a temporary restraining order against the law Wednesday after hearing from both sides of the case. But he said one would likely be coming soon. Events for Montana Pride in Helena are set to begin on Sunday. Attorneys for the plaintiffs argued that the law, implemented from House Bill 359, infringes on free speech and is vague and hard to follow, while the defendants’ attorneys said the state has a right to go beyond what definitions already exist for obscenity when it comes to minors, and can put in place its own requirements for organizations that accept state money. Helena City Attorney Rebecca Dockter said in court Wednesday, as the city did in filings Monday, that it will be issuing the permits for Montana Pride to host their annual event downtown and doesn’t intend to condition the permits based on the recently passed law that bans drag on public property and includes potential penalties for businesses that host drag events. Montana Pride, which this year will be celebrating 30 years since the first Pride event in Montana, joined a lawsuit which, in part, fights the constitutionality of House Bill 359 after organizer Kevin Hamm was told by city staff that permits for the event wouldn’t be granted due to the recently passed law. The organization joined a slew of other plaintiffs that claim harm because of HB 359, which Gov. Greg Gianforte signed into law in May. At a federal courthouse in Helena, attorney Constance Van Kley – on behalf of nearly a dozen plaintiffs including Imagine Nation Brewing Company and the Myrna Loy Theatre – said the broad and vague nature of the bill imposes “chilled speech,” or a discouragement of First Amendment rights of expression. Van Kley pointed to the library in Butte canceling a lecture by Adria Jawort, a transgender woman, as well as events canceled by advocacy group the Imperial Sovereign Court of the State of Montana. Van Kley said the bill language did not acknowledge the U.S. Supreme Court’s methodology for determining obscenity, called the Miller Test. She also said the bill goes beyond that test as well as what has been outlined in drag bans in other states that have already been found unconstitutional, like Tennessee’s. Attorney Thane Johnson, on behalf of Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen and Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen, said the state has a right to go beyond obscenity definitions when it comes to minors, and that plaintiffs in the case don’t have fear of prosecution outside of a school teacher in Billings. But school is out, and a decision is likely before they’re back in the classroom. Johnson pointed to Pride events that have gone forward across the state in Libby, Red Lodge and Billings as examples the state is not trying to impede on Pride events. Morris asked Van Kley if the state had more leeway in restricting public property than private. Van Kley said that municipalities don’t want to be in the position of content moderation, especially in a place where people have the legal right to gather to protest. Morris asked Johnson if the state would interfere with parents being able to choose to take their children to R-rated movies, to which Johnson said the state probably could. Hamm, the event organizer and Democratic congressional candidate, said after the hearing the state doesn’t know how to defend the bill because it’s poorly written. “The concerns that they have about sexually oriented businesses and prurient activities, that’s all covered elsewhere in the code,” Hamm said. “This doesn’t add anything to it, other than confusion.” Dockter, the Helena city attorney, told the Daily Montanan the law put the city in a strange position as city employees would have to implement it. “We have to make sure that our employees aren’t going to be civilly liable as well,” she said. “That’s what House Bill 359 puts us in the position of having to do — not what you see with other laws.” Morris said unless there was a conflict, the hearing over the request for a preliminary injunction against the law would be held on Aug. 25. “Everybody who wants to have fun and enjoys bright colors and wants to be entertained can come and do it,” Hamm said. “If you are one of those sad people that just wants to be hateful your entire time, stay home.” [END] --- [1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2023/07/26/judge-to-decide-if-drag-ban-will-be-in-place-during-montana-pride/ Published and (C) by Daily Montanan Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/montanan/