Gay newspaper wins photo ban challenge

The South Florida Gay News (SFGN) is engaging in a different type of civil activism.

Along with the South Florida chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, the SFGN has received an agreed order from the city of Fort Lauderdale and Chief of Police Frank Adderley after filing a lawsuit challenging a ban on all amateur or professional photography within several hundred yards of the filming of the Hollywood movie Rock of Ages.

According to SFGN managing editor Jason Parsley, â┚¬Å”the city is agreeing to not stop photographers from taking pictures in public places.â┚¬Â

South Florida attorneys Norm Kent (who is also the publisher of SFGN) and Russell Cormican of Kent & Cormican PA filed the lawsuit June 14.

â┚¬Å”What we're asking for is a declaratory judgment that for the city to restrict access on a public street is illegal. The police have posted a sign that says it is illegal to trespass on public property,â┚¬Â said Kent. â┚¬Å”I'm asking for a judge to answer an order saying that's just not so. I'm asking the judge to rule that the police have acted illegally.â┚¬Â

According to an SFGN media release, Fort Lauderdale police told at least two professional photographers they cannot shoot from a public area, and the policy precludes anyone from taking pictures, even as they dine at restaurants that are within a city block of Revolution, the nightclub movie producers have rented for the past few weeks.

On June 17, SFGN staffers protested by going to the location, eating lunch at area restaurants then breaking the rules.

â┚¬Å”No one got arrested,â┚¬Â said Parsley. â┚¬Å”The signs had already been taken down so there was a police officer out there just shouting orders, telling people not to cross an invisible line that she appeared to just arbitrarily make up and continued to change throughout the afternoon.â┚¬Â

He said on June 20, Kent was able to get an emergency hearing moved from June 22 to June 20.

â┚¬Å”The production company shops shooting Friday, so we felt it was imperative go before a judge as soon as possible,â┚¬Â Parsley said. â┚¬Å”We got what we asked for.â┚¬Â