City Pays $20K for Banning Gay Musical

[davidinalameda]

The city of Milwaukee, Wisc. issued a check for $20,000 to the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center on Wednesday after the court ruled a forced closure of Naked Boys Singing! unconstitutional.

The city ordered that the musical close in August 2005 in the face of content complaints and licensing suspicion, according toPlaybill. City ordinances mandated that the Common Council of Milwaukee, who was not scheduled to meet until after the show’s run would have ended, review the license.

The Gay Arts Center’s non-profit status, however, allowed for a settlement in their favor. Non-profits are not required to undergo the same licensing procedures as for-profit organizations in Milwaukee. The city awarded the group a $20,000 settlement and clarified their licensing procedure for non-profits.

"Requiring any theater to get a license before putting on a play comes dangerously close to the kind of 'prior restraint' on speech the First Amendment was designed to prohibit," said Larry Dupuis, American Civil Liberties Union Wisconsin legal director. "We are pleased that the City has clarified the process so that non-profits will know they are not required to get a license. However, we continue to believe that the City should amend its ordinance to limit the time the City has to issue any theater license. It's too easy for the authorities to just delay giving the permit to performances they don't like."

http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/07/16/City_Pays_20K_for_Banning_Gay_Musical/

[SunnySong]

1. What exactly would be an example of a non-gay musical????

That said why the fuck should the city have any say in artistic choice... most city managers I have met think Dukes of Hazard is high art.

[joeybee12]

9. I know ! The term "gay musical" is redundant! n/t

[GodlessBiker]

10. Oklahoma? Except for the salmon colored shirts the cowboys wear.

Without gay people, american musical theater would collapse.

[xchrom]

2. Recommend

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[SnakeEyes]

4. Did i accidently end up on freerepublic?

Comments like this I expect to see over there, not DU

[davidinalameda]

5. and I missed the comment

it was pulled

[LostinVA]

8. Me too!

[niyad]

6. "naked boys singing"?? the vienna boys choir unrobed or something?

[terrya]

7. I've had the pleasure of seeing "Naked Boys Singing" here in Chicago with my partner.

There is NOTHING offensive to this show. It's a fun musical.

God, there's so many stupid prudes in this country.

[sui generis]

11. so you have to get a license to put on a play or musical, per play?

I wonder who thought that up, and I wonder why, and I wonder why it is enforced in the 21st century.