NAPLES, Fla. — More than a dozen people in Naples spoke at Wednesday's city council meeting to urge city leaders to fight against Naples Pride's pending lawsuit over the relocation of the event's drag shows.
WATCH: Fox 4's Eric Lovelace shows us what neighbors said at the meeting:
The packed Naples City Council chamber heard from multiple speakers who opposed the Pride organization's legal challenge.
"The Pride agenda is explicitly sexual, it's an attack on the family, it's an attack on civilization and the freedom that we all love and want to protect," John Strand said, who is running for Congress.
Strand was among the people who voiced opposition to Pride events, characterizing them as sexual demonstrations.
Anthony Thomas also attended the meeting, and opposes the event.
"People in Naples don't want this, we just heard almost every individual in there against this agenda, this is not the will of the City of Naples," Thomas said.
The lawsuit at the center of the meeting claims the city is violating the organization's first amendment rights.
While the city council approved the permit for the festival earlier this year, they mandated that drag shows must be held indoors with attendance restricted to those 18 and older, rather than taking place on stage at Cambier Park.
In court back in May, Naples Pride's attorneys argued the city's $44,000 security fee estimate is unconstitutional. They also contended that prohibiting outdoor drag performances violates free speech protections.
On Wednesday, council members went into a closed session to discuss potential settlement options and legal strategy.
In a statement responding to Wednesday's council session, Naples Pride said:
"Naples Pride respect Naples City Council’s process, but history shows that when governments overstep and police art and expression, democracy suffers. Naples deserves to be on the right side of the Constitution and of freedom.
Drag is protected speech. It is art, performance, and storytelling, protected under the First Amendment just like other expressive works including theater or dance. Naples Pride has hosted family-friendly drag shows in Cambier Park at its annual Pride Festival for years. The recent attempt to portray drag as dangerous reflects misconceptions, not reality — there is no evidence that our shows have harmed anyone. We are not asking people to love drag, or even to attend our drag shows. We are simply asking that no one be stripped of their constitutional rights because their art is colorful or queer— or because someone happens to dislike it.
Naples Pride will continue to defend these freedoms in court for as long as it takes, because we know the Constitution is on our side, and we know that a ruling affirming these rights is not just possible, but inevitable."
Because of the executive session was not open to the public, it's not clear what was discussed. However, a spokesperson told Fox 4 that council members might discuss it at the next meeting in January.
