NAPLES, Fla. – Naples Metropolis Council can be interesting a preliminary injunction from a federal choose in favor of Naples Delight, which permits the group to host a “family-friendly” drag efficiency on the principle stage of a public park on June 7.
Throughout a Metropolis Council assembly Friday, Council Member Invoice Kramer made a movement authorizing town legal professional’s workplace to work with town supervisor and the mayor to assemble applicable authorized illustration to enchantment the preliminary injunction. The movement handed unanimously.
Kramer stated the illustration could embrace the Alliance Defending Freedom, Becket, or a personal regulation agency, and the movement additionally authorizes the mayor to execute any essential retainer agreements.
Rep. Yvette Benarroch reacted to the information on X and thanked the mayor and metropolis council for his or her motion to enchantment.
Thanks to the Mayor & Naples Metropolis Council for voting to enchantment the ruling permitting a drag present at Cambier Park.
I WILL NOT STAY SILENT. I’ll combat for our youngsters’s innocence and stand with each mother or father, grandparent & involved citizen.
— Yvette Benarroch (@BenarrochYvette) Could 16, 2025
Erika Donalds, spouse of U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., additionally thanked the council on X and stated their “dedication to defending our children & neighborhood values is really appreciated!”
The authorized motion follows an April vote by the Naples Metropolis Council, which permitted, 5-2, a measure to maneuver the deliberate drag present indoors—away from Cambier Park, which is frequented by households— and to limit the occasion to adults solely.
Naples Delight, an LGBTQ advocacy group sponsoring the drag present, and the American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU, sued town, searching for a preliminary injunction to overturn town’s location and age restrictions – which was granted this month.
In accordance with court docket paperwork, Decide John E. Steele dominated the Metropolis of Naples’ allowing restrictions had been “clearly invalid” beneath the First Modification.
“For functions of this preliminary injunction movement, the Court docket finds that Naples Delight’s drag efficiency is symbolic conduct that’s inherently expressive and constitutes ‘speech’ throughout the which means of the First Modification,” the choose wrote.
Naples Delight stated whereas not all drag reveals are “household pleasant,” it took steps to “make sure that Pridefest drag performances meet that normal.”
The occasion “forbids performers from incorporating nudity or vulgar, sexual, or obscene content material into their performances; instructs attendees to not tip performers; expressly makes performers conscious of those necessities when they’re booked; and reminds performers of these situations earlier than their performances,” the court docket doc stated.
The occasion can even have a “youngsters zone” on the park with a bounce home, face portray, video games, and actions, based on the Naples Delight web site.
Final week, the U.S. Court docket of Appeals for the eleventh Circuit dominated that Florida’s anti-explicit drag present regulation is “doubtless unconstitutional on its face,” upholding a decrease court docket’s ruling that forestalls its enforcement.
