Less than a month after the Alaska Civil Liberties Union filed suit against Anchorage Mayor George Wuerch for ordering the removal of a gay-pride exhibit at the city’s Loussac Library, U.S. District Judge James K. Singleton ordered its reinstallation—minus the T-shirts and clothing hangers that had been suspended above library elevators. The remainder of the exhibit will return from the University of Alaska/Anchorage, which offered to house it after the controversy erupted.
In a press conference after the hearing, Wuerch said he was pleased that Singleton had apparently “recognized that involuntary participation in an exhibit is not appropriate for a library” by barring the elevator-area display. AkCLU attorney Jennifer Rudinger called Wuerch’s statement “wonderful spin doctoring,” arguing that the elevator-display prohibition had more to do with safety concerns.
Wuerch had contended that library policy allows the removal of a display that could trigger “substantial disruptions or material interference with primary library business” or that takes an advocacy position. “You could look silly” in trying to distinguish between promotion and education, Singleton responded.
A trial is anticipated within a month.
Posted July 9, 2001.