NAKED BOYS SUE MILWAUKEE

A gay arts group is suing the city of Milwaukee in a US federal court over the closure of a production of the musical Naked Boys Singing, which has gay themes and has been produced around the world.

The lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Wisconsin, charges that the Milwaukee Police Department violated the country’s First Amendment by shutting down the play in 2005.

City officials told the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center it needed a theatre license and police officers threatened that people would be ticketed or arrested if the production went on.

The ACLU claims that this is unconstitutional because it allows authorities to suppress free speech by withholding a license indefinitely, and that the police were illegally acting to suppress the play because they disapproved of its content.

The play’s run was allowed to continue once a license was secured by the centre.

Paul Masterson, the Executive Director of the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center, said the group was suing to vindicate the rights of gay and lesbian artists to present theatrical works that express and celebrate gay identity.

“Naked Boys Singing is mostly a light-hearted look at a part of the gay experience in America,” Masterson said. “It may not be for everyone, but good theatre sometimes challenges convention. And all kinds of audiences have enjoyed the humour and the poignancy of the songs and the situations in the play.”

ACLU cooperating counsel Steve Porter and Jeff Scott Olson of Madison, Wisconsin filed the lawsuit on behalf of the centre. Porter said the case shows why licensing of plays and other art is dangerous.

“When a theatre director or other performer has to get a license before expressing herself, it’s too easy for the authorities to just delay giving the permit to performances they don’t like,” said Porter.

“In this case, the cast and crew were gearing up for a show when the police first brought up the need for a license, even though MGAC – and other nonprofit theaters – had done other shows without licenses for years. The only difference is those shows didn’t have such provocative titles, so you have to suspect that disapproval of the content is what made the police act in this case.”