Gay Arts Group Sues Milwaukee

The AP reports:

MILWAUKEE (AP) -- A gay arts group has sued the city of Milwaukee in federal court for violating its free speech rights three years ago when officials shut down a musical revue featuring nudity.

The city temporarily shut down performances of "Naked Boys Singing!" in August 2005 while it considered the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center's application for a theater permit. The group later received a permit and reopened the show.

. . . the city's law does not require officials to approve or deny theater permit applications in a timely fashion. If they don't like a show's content, they can simply not act, he said. "It could be used to discriminate," Dupuis said, "and we suspect that there was some sort of discriminatory thinking that went into the decision-making somewhere along the line."

. . . "Naked Boys Singing!" has run into trouble with authorities before in such cities as Provincetown, Mass.; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Atlanta. Eventually, all three cities held performances of the show.

The lawsuit does not name a specific damages amount.