Suit Challenges Limits On Pastor's Speech Near Gay Pride Event

The Alliance Defense fund announced that it filed a federal lawsuit in Wichita, Kansas last Thursday on behalf of a pastor who was prevented from preaching and distributing literature on a public sidewalk near a Gay Pride event held last June in Wichita's Heritage Square Park. Police insisted that Pastor Mark Holick instead move to a private parking lot nearby. The complaint (full text) in Holick v. City of Wichita alleges that the police conduct violated Holick's rights to freedom of speech, association and religion as well as the 14th Amendment's due process clause. The lawsuit seeks a declaratory judgment and an injunction prohibiting interference with Holick's speaking in traditional public forums at future Gay Pride Events.