Our Mission
To support educational efforts that increase personal
self-esteem, promote public enlightenment and advance equality
for LGBT Oklahomans.
2001 Photo Gallery
(click
photos to enlarge)
For the first time in the 14 year history of the
Oklahoma City Gay and Lesbian Pride Parade, the
words appear on city owned property. Through a
joint project with the Cimarron Alliance Group,
we have been able to hang 44 banners proclaiming
Gay and Lesbian Pride in rainbow colors on city
light poles from NW 32nd to NW 42nd on Classen
Blvd. and around the intersection of Classen
Blvd. and NW Expressway, known as Classen
Circle. Please drive down Classen Blvd. to view
these colorful banners. Both organizations feel
it is important to show the closeted gays and
lesbians and the rest of Oklahoma City that
being gay or lesbian is something to be proud
of.
During
the Gay Pride festivities of 2001,
the GLBT community pooled its
resources to display banners on
public light poles along the parade
route of the annual pride parade.
Since 1988, Oklahoma City has
operated a public banner program in
which nonprofit groups could display
banners at their own expense
advertising events and ideas. The
city maintains 1200 poles for public
use.
The gay pride banners were simple in
design, including a rainbow logo,
and a message of pride, equality and
tolerance. There were forty-five
banners installed pursuant to a city
permit. The banners drew mixed
reviews, with some members of the
religious community expressing
outrage. The protest grew to a
crescendo when OKC Mayor Kirk
Humphreys denounced the banners as
"an irreligious message" and pointed
out that certain aspects of
homosexuality were a felony.
Several days prior to the expiration
of the permit, the city removed the
banners and replaced them with
Fourth of July banners. Under
threat of litigation, the city
returned the gay pride banners for a
few days after the Fourth of July.
The Cimarron Foundation, one of the
original sponsors of the June
banners, then applied for a permit
to fly banners celebrating Gay and
Lesbian History Month in October
2001. While this application was
pending, the city passed a new
ordinance banning any banners which
had a "social advocacy message."
The new Cimarron request for a
permit was denied by the city.
The Cimarron Foundation immediately
brought an action in the U.S.
District Court seeking to reverse
this decision. In September 2002
Chief U.S. District Judge Robyn
Cauthron ruled for the foundation on
most issues. She agreed that the
ordinance was an unconstitutional
violation of the foundation's rights
of free speech and held that the
ordinance was vague, overbroad and
served no government interest other
than to censor speech which it found
unpopular. She specifically denied
the city's request that its new
policy of requiring the applicants
to donate the banners to the city
created "government speech" which
the city claimed was somehow exempt
from first amendment protection.
Cimarron Foundation vice-chair Bill
Rogers greeted the ruling with pride
and relief. Rogers said, "The city's
efforts were transparent. The
entire banner regulation was an
attempt to censor and stigmatize the
free speech of a minority group, of
whom the mayor and a majority of the
city council disapproved. Judge
Cauthron's ruling vindicates what we
have been saying all along. 'That is
a free speech case, and a victory
vindicates the rights of all the
citizens of Oklahoma City' "
This case was handled for the
foundation by two ACLU attorneys on
a pro bono basis. The lead counsel
was Mark Henricksen, a member of the
Cimarron board. He worked with
fellow ACLU attorney Micheal Salem.
