Naples Pride has won the return of the traditional Pride Fest drag show in Cambier Park after a federal judge agreed with the nonprofit group’s First Amendment arguments.

In a 49-page ruling on May 13, U.S. District Court Judge John Steele found the organization had proven one of two points it had claimed in seeking an injunction against the city’s decision to move the show indoors:

• that the requirement of moving the drag show indoors was content-based and an infringement of free speech — in this case, free expression. For the last two years, the show has been moved indoors, once inside the Norris Center and then completely off the venue, during the uncertainty after a state law was passed — and then challenged — targeting drag shows. That law was later declared unconstitutional.  

•  that the city police department’s estimated security fee was unreasonably high and, in effect, a barrier to staging the festival. It amounted to what is known as a “heckler’s veto,” according to the injunction, to levy security fees that would erase any income from Pride Fest.  

Naples Pride had already seen its security fee increased threefold from $5,513.75 in 2023 to $15,520 in 2024. This year the City of Naples nearly doubled that security fee: $30,697.50 to stage the performance indoors, or $44,160 to stage it outdoors. That is more than double the previous year’s rate. 

The LGBTQ+ support organization, which serves as an informational clearinghouse and counseling center and neighborhood resource center, was already hurting financially from restrictions on Pride Fest. Income had suffered from what it saw as inaccessibility for the drag show, a popular attraction, and a City of Naples rule that the show be restricted to ages 18 and older. 

The soaring security fees were deemed necessary by the Naples Police Department because of the likelihood of protestors and an uncertainty about the potential for confrontation. Over the last two years, protestors have appeared at City Council when the permit was being issued and outside the festival itself. There has been only one arrest, however: a disorderly protestor in 2023.  

The court’s decision agreed the police “should be making those determinations to ensure that every special event is protected by enough security personnel and adequate protocols in conformance with best practices. 

 “What the city cannot do is assess against an event organizer the portion of additional fees attributable to the event’s controversial nature. Naples Pride may eventually succeed in challenging a portion of the fee that was assessed here.” 

What the city would have to do, under the injunction’s reasoning, is reduce the fees by the amount that would be assessed over those concerns, which had amounted to censorship on freedom of speech. 

“It’s a win on everything that mattered to us, at least for this year, on our First Amendment arguments and our discriminatory fees arguments,” said Callahan Soldavini, attorney on the board of Naples Pride.  

“The most exciting win for us is that we’re able to proceed with the drag show onstage in the format we had 2017 to 2022 before the anti-drag law started going through the Legislature. Now we’re planning our Pride Fest celebrations, especially our entertainment committee, who vets all of our performances to make sure they understand that this is a family-friendly and all-age appropriate celebration.” 

The American Civil Liberties Union, represented by New York law firm Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP, brought the suit on behalf of Naples Pride against the city, Naples City Council, Naples police and its chief, as well. Two organizations filed amicus briefs supporting the city: Liberty Counsel, which offers legal support to conservative Christian causes, and America’s Future Inc., which defines part of its mission is preserving American values and strengthening the role of religion in society. 

“We didn’t file this lawsuit to ruffle any feathers, but we weren’t being heard in any other forum,” Soldavini said, “so we had to move it in front of a judge to make this decision.” 

Pride Fest is planned for 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 7 at Cambier Park.