Officials in a Tennessee city elected to remove language from its “public decency” ordinance to reverse a ban on being gay in public that was implemented during Pride month. No, your eyes aren’t deceiving you: Murfreesboro’s municipal government passed an ordinance forbidding public acts of affection between same-sex partners in public, and they reversed their decision about four months later.
The ordinance listed “indecent” behaviors and actions, which included “homosexuality” along with “acts of masturbation” and “sexual intercourse.” Language in the policy also prohibits “knowingly” engaging in “indecent behavior,” or subjecting children and teens to “a prurient interest or to behaviors, materials, or events that are patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable material for minors” in a public space. In addition, city funds are barred from being used to broadcast certain materials, such as books, broadcasts, or shows.
Murfreesboro’s anti-LGBTQ+ ordinance mirrors a state law looking to ban drag performances for children, defining content “harmful to minors” as that which “appeals to the prurient, shameful or morbid interest of minors” or lacks “literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.”
Critics of the policy claimed it further exacerbated the historic discrimination against LGBTQ+ residents, as well as infringes on First Amendment rights. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued the city over the ordinance on behalf of the Tennessee Equality Project (TEP), indicating the city was using the ordinance to drive out LGBTQ+ community members, especially drag performers, and to prevent Pride events from taking place in town.
A federal judge issued an order prohibiting Murfreesboro from using the policy to prevent the local Pride parade — BoroPride — from happening. The judge also instructed the city council to remove “homosexuality” from the public decency ordinance, which was done quietly earlier this month.
“We are glad Murfreesboro officials have amended the ordinance,” the team of attorneys representing TEP said in a statement. “However, we will continue to challenge the remaining portions of this anti-LGBTQ+ ordinance until it is permanently defeated, and all residents of Murfreesboro know that their government officials have no right to censor LGBTQ+ people and our expression.”