The city of St. George issued an apology to Southern Utah Drag Stars Feb. 7, noting the resolution of a years-long lawsuit.
In March of 2023, Southern Utah Drag Stars applied for and was approved for a permit to hold a family-friendly drag show at a private establishment, the now closed Cafe Elevato.
Just days later, the city of St. George revoked their permit based on the fact that the event was being advertised prior to the finalization of the permit.
Mitski Avalox, CEO of Southern Utah Drag Stars, said: “I got an email saying that I got denied because I started advertising before my final permit was issued. At that point, I was like, ‘This is some screwy stuff.’ They don’t enforce this at all until it comes to drag.”
Despite this, Ryan Dooney, who at the time was the assistant attorney to the city, said special exceptions are made for recurring events.
When referring to the previously mentioned recurring events like the Iron Man triathlon, Avalox said: “You have all these events that advertise way before they get their final permit. Because often, the final permit is granted the day of the event or a week before. So how could you possibly advertise an event if you’re getting your permit the day of or a week before?”
Further, a six-month moratorium, a temporary prohibition, was issued by the city not long after the contention.
Though the city said that the revocation was done on neutral grounds, Avalox said it was done on a discriminatory basis.
Thus, Avalox sued the city of St. George on the grounds of discrimination and First Amendment violations in May of 2023, after working with the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah since April of that year.
Avalox’s case gained traction during its proceedings with the help of the ACLU of Utah, which led to the involvement of other legal entities such as Jenner & Block and the American Civil Liberties Union.
Aaron Welcher, the director of communications for the ACLU of Utah, said: “This was such a historic First Amendment case. This sort of ban and Mitski’s experience was really one of the first cases of its type.”
For Welcher, being responsible for making sure this lawsuit reaches a wide net of is people meaningful.
“One, just so that people who might be alone, especially in rural, areas that are a big part of Utah, don’t feel alone and know that there are people fighting for them,” Welcher said. “Two, it reaffirms that the U.S. Constitution does protect everyone, including LGBTQ+ people, and that the courts will have to continue to affirm that.”
Starlett Mars Magazine, also known as Johnathan Monge, drag queen and one of the first members of Southern Utah Drag Stars, said, “Mitski winning this lawsuit means a lot to the drag community; as far as I know, there hasn’t been anything this historic, especially involving drag.”
But to Avalox, the apology letter from the city of St. George held more meaning than the lawsuit. Avalox said: “I was most happy about the letter. I specifically asked for that because regardless if they mean it or not, it’s in writing.”
Avalox wanted to leave a message to the city of St. George.
“If anyone else tries to throw an event and they want to exclude me, they have the written apology as a reminder that they’re going to lose if they try that again,” Avalox said.
