'Rescind it': ACLU lawsuit sparks repeal of Murfreesboro decency standards ordinance

Murfreesboro officials have unanimously voted to repeal a community decency standards ordinance that sparked a federal First Amendment lawsuit.

Five of seven Murfreesboro City Council members were present for the first of two required meetings Thursday to rescind the controversial ordinance adopted after a June decision.

"Basically, upon advice of external and internal legal counsel, we felt it was best at this time to rescind it," Council Member Austin Maxwell explained Tuesday.

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The ordinance has faced opposition from First Amendment advocates, including BoroPride LGBTQ+ festival organizers, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and book-banning opponents. BoroPride organizers and the ACLU filed the federal lawsuit and won a court order agreement with the city in October to prohibit the Murfreesboro government from enforcing a 74-year-old ban on homosexuality during the Oct. 28 BoroPride festival.

The council also responded prior to this year's BoroPride festival by agreeing to remove the word "homosexuality" from city code after it had been defined as an unenforced city violation of sexual conduct since 1949.

Much of the conflict started after Murfreesboro City Manager Craig Tindall sent an October 2022 letter to BoroPride organizers with a ban threat that accused the LGBTQ+ event and drag show of exposing “children to a harmful prurient interest.”

Timeline: Murfreesboro decency standards conflict started with letter from city manager

First Amendment expert backs repeal decision

Free Speech Center Director Ken Paulson praised the ACLU for challenging the Murfreesboro government and "spending the money needed to protect the rights of the community.

"The ACLU consistently stands up for the Bill of Rights," said Paulson, whose Free Speech Center is based at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro. He's also an MTSU media professor and former editor in chief for USA Today.

"The decision to repeal the decency act is smart and really the only move the City Council can make. Government has no business legislating decency, and the legislation in place was clearly unconstitutional and would only end up costing taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars at a minimum," he said.

"If this was promoted by advice from counsel, one can only hope they (City Council members) will consult the same attorneys when they are temped to pass any future restrictive legislation."

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Council member expects ordinance to be amended

Council member Kirt Wade said he expects that the elected city officials will be amending the community decency standards ordinance.

"We’re not getting rid of it because we’re getting sued," Wade said Tuesday. "The reason we are amending this is to make sure it’s fair to all people involved. We want to make sure we’re doing the right thing to look out for all citizens."

Wade called for the vote to rescind the community decency standards ordinance.

Vice Mayor Bill Shacklett seconded the vote after previously being the only member of the council to oppose the community decency standards ordinance because of concerns about library book banning and violating First Amendment rights.

Council members Shawn Wright and Jami Averwater were absent from Thursday's meeting.

Wright declined to comment because he was out of town during the meeting for the Christmas holiday.

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Agenda excludes mention of ordinance in question

The Thursday meeting agenda excluded any mention of repealing the community decency standards ordinance.

After going through the listed agenda items and whispering back and forth briefly with Harris, the mayor near the end of the meeting brought up the ordinance by using code numbers rather than words to describe it.

Unlike the tense debate between the vice mayor and mayor when the council adopted the community decency standards ordinance, elected city officials engaged in no discussion prior to the vote to repeal the controversial legislation.

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'What’s happening inside your community'

Soon after the vote, the mayor recognized several audience members who were attending with Leadership Rutherford, a group pursuing training offered by the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce.

“Leadership Rutherford is invaluable to learn what’s happening inside your community," McFarland told the group.

“You were here for a 21-minute meeting. Although it’s not a record, it’s still pretty dang good.“

The Daily News Journal left phone messages for McFarland, Shacklett, Averwater and Harris Tuesday morning, but none were available for comment.

BoroPride supporters speak up: Murfreesboro pride group says they're 'about love and acceptance,' amid controversy

Reach reporter Scott Broden with news tips or questions by emailing him at sbroden@dnj.com. Follow his tweets on the X social media platform that used to be known as Twitter @ScottBroden. To support his work with The Daily News Journal, sign up for a digital subscription.

This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: ACLU, Boropride suit leads council to nix Murfreesboro decency statute