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University of Miami Law Review

Abstract

Pride Month is an important event in many communities because it celebrates and enhances the visibility of the LGBTQ+ community. Pridefest events occurring during Pride Month are well-attended but often mired by threats of violence. Such threats are often targeted at Pridefest drag shows, which exhibit gender-bending performances by drag queens and drag kings of one biological sex, who wear extravagant costumes that exaggerate gender stereotypes of the opposite biological sex. In Naples Pride, Inc. v. City of Naples, the Eleventh Circuit addressed whether a government may impose conditions on such drag shows when threats have been levied against the event. Specifically, the court was asked to consider whether a special event permit process converted traditional public spaces, such as a park, into a “limited public forum” and, if so, whether the age and location conditions imposed on the 2025 Naples Pridefest drag show constituted a forbidden, viewpoint-based “heckler’s veto.”

Echoing similar decisions from other circuits, the Eleventh Circuit concluded that the City’s special use permit process created a limited public forum and, accordingly, that the conditions imposed on the Pridefest drag show were consistent with the First Amendment so long as they were reasonable and viewpoint neutral. This constitutional test was passed, reasoned the court, because the conditions were imposed to protect public safety, including the safety of the drag show performers, and were not imposed based upon the views espoused by the drag performers. The court’s conclusion is consistent with the Supreme Court’s free speech jurisprudence, pursuant to which reasonable time, place, or manner restrictions are a permissible means by which to balance the competing interests of free speech and community safety.

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