The Loogootee PrideFest will once again take place in the heart of town after a court found the city’s special events ordinance, which was passed in 2024 and amended in 2025, violates the First Amendment.
The U.S. District Court for the Southern Division of Indiana granted a permanent injunction against the ordinance and ordered that the city allow PrideFest to take place at the Public Square on September 6, 2025.
In 2024, the ACLU of Indiana filed suit in U.S. District Court against the ordinance, which changed the application process for using city property. With a request for preliminary injunction pending before the Court, the City allowed the plaintiff to hold PrideFest 2024 at the Public Square but refused plaintiff’s request to hold the 2025 PrideFest in the same location, Loogootee’s Public Square. It will now be held there.
Ken Falk, legal director, ACLU of Indiana, issued the following statement:
“Other public events are held in the Loogootee Public Square, and there is no reason that PrideFest should be any different. We’re pleased that the court once again allowed this important celebration of the LGBTQ+ community to go forward there.”
Tracy Brown-Salsman, vice president of Patoka Valley AIDS Community Action Group and PrideFest organizer, issued the following statement:
"Patoka Valley AIDS Community Action Group is so grateful to the ACLU for again protecting civil rights in Loogootee, Indiana. It is so important for our local LGBTQA+ community to be celebrated and seen. Having our 3rd Annual Loogootee PrideFest downtown on the public square is so important because that visibility matters. Visibility literally saves lives! We look forward to seeing everyone at Diversity Fountain on the Public Square Saturday, September 6, 2025, from 10 am to 7 pm."
The decision can be found here.
