In
McGlone v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville, (6th Cir., Sept. 19, 2018), the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in a 2-1 decision held that the free speech rights of two sidewalk preachers were infringed when they were required to move their amplified anti-homosexuality preaching across the street from the park where a Pride festival was being held. The majority held:
Nashville excluded McGlone and Peters from a traditional public forum for expressing a message opposed to homosexuality and Nashville provides no compelling reason for doing so. Indeed, Nashville does not even argue that its restriction of McGlone and Peters’ speech could survive strict scrutiny review. We therefore end our inquiry here.
Judge Moore dissented, saying in part:
I believe that it was a reasonable time, place, and manner restriction for ... Nashville ... to require ... John McGlone and Jeremy Peters ... to cross a downtown street if they wished to continue shouting disruptive messages through bullhorns during a permit-authorized event in a public park....
