Man can’t hand out Bibles at Minn. gay-pride festival
MINNEAPOLIS — A federal judge has ruled that a Wisconsin man who wants to hand out Bibles at the 40th Annual Twin Cities Pride festival this month will have to confine himself to a booth just outside of the event.
On June 13, Chief U.S. District Judge Michael Davis denied Brian Johnson’s request for an injunction that would force the Minneapolis parks board to allow him unrestricted access to festival grounds at Loring Park. The judge said Johnson’s constitutional challenge was unlikely to succeed.
Twin Cities Pride Executive Director Dot Belstler told the Star Tribune that the ruling was welcome news.
Johnson’s lead attorney, Nate Kellum with the Center for Religious Expression, said other legal options were being explored.
Johnson, of Hayward, Wis., said he had distributed Bibles at the annual event since 1995 and that he had no problems until 2009, when the organization refused to rent him a booth.
According to the newspaper, festival organizers will allow booths in the park, but outside the festival space, for people excluded by the planners.
Tags: Bible, Minnesota, park, religious literature
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Ken Paulson is president and chief executive officer of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University and in Washington, D.C. Previously, Paulson served as the editor and senior vice president/news of USA Today.
Gene Policinski, senior vice president and executive director of the First Amendment Center and president and chief operating officer of the Diversity Institute, is a veteran journalist whose career has included work in newspapers, radio, television and online.
John Seigenthaler founded the First Amendment Center in 1991 with the mission of creating national discussion, dialogue and debate about First Amendment rights and values.
Dr. Charles C. Haynes is director of the Religious Freedom Education Project at the Newseum. He writes and speaks extensively on religious liberty and religion in American public life.
David L. Hudson Jr. is an expert in First Amendment issues who writes for firstamendmentcenter.org and for other publications. Hudson teaches law and was a scholar at the First Amendment Center.
Tiffany Villager is director/First Amendment studies at the First Amendment Center, which she joined in 1993. She also served as the center’s research manager and research coordinator, and developed the center’s library.
