INDIANAPOLIS — For the past three years, Loogootee PrideFest organizers have fought to keep their celebration in the heart of town and, once again, a federal court has ruled that the City of Loogootee cannot use its permitting rules to push PrideFest out of Loogootee’s Public Square, which is in the center of the city.
On Monday, August 31, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana ruled in favor of Patoka Valley AIDS Community Action Group, striking down Loogootee’s current special events ordinances and permanently blocking the city from enforcing them. The court also ordered Loogootee to allow PrideFest 2026 to take place on September 5 in the desired location with the requested street closures.
The legal fight began after PrideFest was first held in the Public Square in 2023. Since then, Loogootee has repeatedly rewritten its special events rules as organizers fought to return to the same downtown location. In 2025, a federal court struck down one of those ordinances and ordered the city to allow PrideFest in the Public Square. Despite the court’s 2025 ruling, Loogootee adopted similar restrictions just months later, prompting the court to hold the city in contempt in March for failing to comply with its order.
In Monday’s ruling, the court found that Loogootee’s permitting rules once again violated the First Amendment by giving city officials too much discretion over protected speech. It also struck down the 240-foot exclusion zone around the Public Square fountain, ruling that the restriction went further than necessary to address traffic and safety concerns.
“We’re very pleased with this ruling and what it means for PrideFest organizers, who have had to fight year after year for equal access to their own town square,” said Ken Falk, legal director at the ACLU of Indiana. “This is an important win for PrideFest and for free expression in Loogootee.”
Loogootee PrideFest will take place Saturday, September 5, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Loogootee Public Square.
The court’s decision is available here.
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