Florida Drag Performance Pushed Indoors by Federal Court (1)

Naples, Fla., can require a drag performance be performed indoors and restricted to adults, a federal appeals court ruled Friday—one day before the event was scheduled to take place in a public park.

A divided Eleventh Circuit reversed the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida’s order blocking local restrictions on a drag show as part of the Naples Pride Fest this weekend.

The appeals court majority said that Naples Pride waited too long to challenge this year’s permit because the city imposed similar indoor restrictions on 2023 and 2024 shows. The court also said that city officials weren’t imposing the restrictions based on their viewpoint, but for safety concerns. Third, the stage in the Naples park was a “limited public forum” subject to lessened First Amendment protections.

The ruling comes as drag performances take on increased free speech significance in Florida and across the country. Courts find themselves in the middle of governments seeking to limit performances due to exposure to children and alleged protest-policing costs while groups claim free speech and free expression protections under the US Constitution.

The “two permit conditions were not added based on Naples Pride’s viewpoint. And they were reasonable in light of the special event,” the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit said in its unauthored opinion. Though unsigned, the majority was made up of Trump appointees Judges Andrew L. Brasher and Robert J. Luck.

The decision prioritizes a city’s claims over Naples Pride’s free speech rights despite a decision last month finding that Florida’s ban on minors attending drag shows violated the First Amendment, Biden appointee Judge Nancy G. Abudu said in her dissent.

Courts have “been extremely cautious about not elevating a ‘heckler’s veto’ into an extra factor of consideration when determining whether a gathering for the public should be so severely clamped down that the expression is unduly hampered,” she said.

The city’s attorney, Matthew McConnell, praised the ruling in an email and said the city applied its permit conditions “due to legitimate public safety concerns identified by law enforcement.”

“The City of Naples remains committed to protecting public safety while respecting constitutional rights and maintaining orderly administration of its public spaces,” said McConnell, a lawyer with Dickman Law Firm.

Naples Pride, represented by the ACLU, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment to their attorney.

Mat Staver, chairman for Liberty Counsel, a group that supported the city’s restrictions, praised the ruling.

“Putting indoor and age restrictions on this event, as a limited public forum, passes constitutional muster in the interest of public safety. Citizens do not have to tolerate obscene drag shows in view of their children,” he said in a statement.

The case is Naples Pride v. City of Naples, 11th Cir., No. 25-11756, 6/6/25.