A federal judge ordered the good churchgoing people of Prattville, Alabama to let drag queens participate in their annual Christmas parade. Apparently, getting an entire month to celebrate the LGBT community is no longer good enough. Now, they want to shove the Baby Jesus out of the manger.
Prattville Pride had been removed from the town’s parade over safety concerns and massive protests from local Christian community. So, they filed a lawsuit — alleging that the city was “bowing to the pressure from extremists and hecklers in the community who oppose the views of Prattville Pride.”
The Christian community became alarmed after Prattville Pride threatened to make their beloved Christmas parade the “gayest ever.” It’s part of a national movement to force Americans to accept, endorse and celebrate the LGBT movement as I explained in my latest book, “Twilight’s Last Gleaming.” Click here to read.
The local LGBT mob seems to believe that objecting to a bunch of men wearing dresses to distribute candy to children along the parade route is extremism.
Andrew Lee Odom, the city’s attorney, also blasted the local church community — telling AL.com that he wished the “citizens of Prattville can put aside hate and division and enjoy this season together with a unified spirit, starting with tonight’s parade.”
U.S. District Judge R. Austin Huffaker, nominated to the bench by President Trump, sided with the drag queens and allowed them to participate in Friday’s parade.
“While there are areas of unprotected speech, such as incitement of violence, the City makes no argument and provides no evidence that Prattville Pride has engaged in any speech or behavior that would remotely fall into an unprotected speech category,” the judge wrote. “It is undisputed that Prattville Pride has complied with the City’s regulations.”
“The City removed Prattville Pride from the parade based on its belief that certain members of the public who oppose Prattville Pride, and what is stands for, would react in a disruptive way. But discrimination based on a message’s content “cannot be tolerated under the First Amendment,” the order continued.
The LGBT activists paraded on a float decorated in rainbow colors. They opted not to feature a drag queen over safety concerns.
While we celebrate this important step forward, we must also acknowledge the challenges and hateful rhetoric that have been directed towards our organization and the LGBTQ+ community during this process. Such negativity can have a profound and damaging effect on LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly youth, who often face heightened risks of isolation, mental health struggles, and rejection.
This is why Prattville Pride exists—to ensure that LGBTQ+ individuals feel safe, seen, and supported. Our participation in the Christmas parade is more than just a celebration; it is a statement of belonging and a reminder that love and acceptance are integral to the fabric of our community.
1819 News reports that “the parade seemed to garner a significantly smaller crowd than it has traditionally done.” Several religious groups backed out of the parade in protest including a drive-in theater that shows faith-based films and a local Catholic church.
“Unfortunately we are back to our original stance of having to forgo the parade since the pride float with their drag queen is back in it,” Father Den Irwin, of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, told Alabama Political Reporter. “I am sincerely sorry for any inconvenience. We were trying to support the City after they boldly removed the float. However Prattville pride challenged the ruling in court and won.”
It’ll be interesting to see how Prattville Pride responds when hundreds of people opposed to the LGBT movement apply to march in the town’s annual pride parade. To quote the federal judge’s ruling, “discrimination based on a message’s content cannot be tolerated under the First Amendment.”
