Mississippi: Starkville City Council Reverses And Issues Permit For Pride Parade

After the Board of Aldermen in Starkville, Mississippi, voted against issuing a permit to allow the town's first Pride parade, organizers filed a federal lawsuit saying the Board’s decision to ban speech by Starkville Pride on city streets is a violation of the First Amendment and its discriminatory treatment, based solely on LGBT-related animus, violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.

And so, the Starkville Board of Aldermen held another vote tonight to consider the permit.

With Ward 3 Alderman David Little abstaining, the vote was tied at 3-3. Mayor Lynn Spruill became the tiebreaking vote.

Mayor Spruill had previously denounced the denial saying, "I think it sends a message that we are not the inclusive community that I believe us to be."

Starkville Pride was live-tweeting during the meeting:

A representative of Starkville High School said she is speaking on behalf of everyone from the school who wanted to come but were “too scared.”

— Starkville Pride (@starkvillepride) March 7, 2018

A veteran speaks in favor of Pride, using the Bible as a means of defense. He said that the Aldermen do not get to “bully” the people of Starkville.

— Starkville Pride (@starkvillepride) March 7, 2018

Renowned civil rights attorney, Roberta A. Kaplan, who represented Starkville Pride, issued the following statement:

“Bailey McDaniel, Emily Turner and Starkville Pride stood up to vindicate the right to freedom of speech held by every American, no matter whether they are straight or gay.

What happened at tonight’s meeting was a victory not only for our clients and for their equal dignity under the law, but also for the core principle that in this country, we do not restrict a person’s ability to speak based on whether or not we agree with what they have to say.

We look forward to celebrating Pride with the LGBT community of Starkville and the rest of Mississippi on March 24.”