“Prattville Pride” group files federal lawsuit after it was removed from Prattville city Christmas parade lineup

ACTION 8 UPDATE: A federal judge has ordered the city of Prattville to include Prattville Pride in the annual city Christmas parade and to provide the extra security it has requested.

Original story:

The “Prattville Pride” group has filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Prattville after the city removed the group from its Christmas parade.

The city of Prattville released a statement saying why it decided to remove the group.

This is the statement from Mayor Bill Gillespie, Jr.:

“This morning, it was brought to the City’s attention from Prattville Pride that there are serious safety concerns regarding Prattville Pride’s participation in the Christmas parade.

“Until today, there has only been conjecture and speculation regarding potential safety concerns that Prattville Pride’s participation in the parade may cause.

“The City will not put the rights of parade participants ahead of the safety of its citizens. Because of the safety concerns for Prattville Pride, other parade participants, as well as parade bystanders, the City has made the decision to remove Prattville Pride from the Christmas parade.

“This decision was made with careful thought and consideration while balancing the rights of parade participants against the overall safety of everyone involved at the parade. The City will always respect freedoms and rights of expression. However, as in this instance, it must put the overall safety of its citizens first.”

The statement didn’t detail what the safety concerns might be.

Prattville Pride is a group that is dedicated to promoting the LGBTQ community and diversity and inclusion, according to its website. It held an inaugural celebration earlier this year.

Tonight on the group’s Facebook page, it announced that it had filed a federal lawsuit, saying:

“We have filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Prattville alleging violation of our first and fourteenth amendment rights and demanding redress by the city. We believe the law is clearly on our side and are hopeful that the injunction will be granted and we will still be able to participate in the parade.

“For those of you who planned on helping us build the float tomorrow, we are going to proceed with that in hopes that the injunction gets granted and we are all able to participate. We are so thankful for the support we have received.”

READ: Prattville Pride Lawsuit against city of Prattville

Action 8 News has obtained an email from Prattville Pride to Prattville police officials that was sent at 12:53AM Thursday morning outlining its concerns over safety, which was prior to the mayor’s statement.

That email said in part:

“…there have been some additional threats made against our organization referencing harmful actions to be taken against us and our float during the Prattville Christmas Parade.

“At this time, Prattville Pride is requesting Prattville Police officers to specifically monitor us and our surroundings during staging as well as assign 2 officers to walk near the crowd alongside our float…

“…we are concerned not only with our own safety but that of bystanders and parade goers as well.”