520 8th. Ave. N. Myrtle Beach, S.C.
P: 843.448.1180
CRUISE PLAY POOL DANCE
Anti-gay protester's
Charlotte lawsuit
Flip Benham, Operation Save America says they will appeal
by Matt Comer :: matt@goqnotes.com
Mondays
Knockdown Drag Out'
Open Drag Contest at 12 Midnight
Hosted by Morgan Richards
Wednesdays
Game Kight with Bingo & Other Games
Hosted by Bimbos of the Beach
Thursday
Locals Kight
Disco Diva Show at 12 Midnight
Fri, January 29 - Samantha Hunter, Lesley Lain,
Akasha Tate
Sat., Janmry 30 - Dance Party
with Morgan Richards
Fri, February 5 & Sat, February 6 -
Chantell Curtis and herKewJersgi Men
Fri, February 12- Miss Time Out Sweetheart
2010 Contest
Sat, February 13 - C.LA. WS. Kight
and Dance Party with Kristina Dee Vine
Karaoke Tuesdcty -11 pm Karaoke Sunday -10 pm
Tuesday, Wednesdcty, Thursday - Ko Cover
(excluding special holidqjis or events)
THE HOTTEST DANCE MUSIC ON THE BEACH WITH D.J. MACKEL
For booking information (female impersonators/male dancers)
contact Ken ® 843.448.1180,1 Oam-1 pm
www.timeoutmbsc.com
CHARLOTTE—The leader of an anti-
LGBT, anti-choice activist group said he will
appeal the dismissal of his federal, civil rights
lawsuit againstthe City of Charlotte.
On Jan. 8, U.S. District Court
Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr.
dismissed Flip Benham's suit
againstthe city, saying the reli
gious leader had "not put forth
sufficient evidence" for his
claims the city had violated his
First Amendment rights to pro
test and assemble at Uptown's
Independence Square.
In 2006, Benham's Opera
tion Save America, an anti-gay
street preaching and protest
group based in Concord, N.C.,
filed for a public assembly
permit for a Roe v. Wade Me
morial they wanted to hold at
the Square, located at the inter
section of Trade and Tryon Sts.
Permit official Emily Westbrook
denied Benham's request.
According to court documents,
Westbrook told Benham his
event was a demonstration and
that, as such, it would fall under
the city's picketing ordinance
and no public assembly permit was required.
The pro-life event was held successfully
that year. No arrests were made or citations
issued, although police did issue two noise
ordinance warnings.
Flip Benham, of the Concord, N.C.-based Operation Save
America, says Charlotte officials don't want to recognize his
Free Speech rights
Photo Credit Mark Lyon
At issue is the decibel level for sound
systems under the c’rty's picketing and noise
ordinances, Benham told qnotes.
"The sound ordinance says you cannot
use a speaker system above 75 decibels, but
the ambient sound out there [on Trade and
Tryon] is 60 or 70 decibels alone," he said.
"The sound ordinance is totally ludicrous. You
have a sound system but you can't even use it.
At 75 decibels we couldn't hear anyone."
Benham said his group filed for the public
assembly permit—which is also given to
community festivals — as a work-around
to the restrictions imposed by the sound
ordinance.
"We filed a festival permit because we
know that With the festival permit you can
have sound as loud as you want," he said.
"All sorts of things go on down there at Trade
and Tryon and the festival permit allows us
free First Amendment rights while the sound
ordinance does not"
Senior City Attorney Bob Hagemann told
gnofesthe city's ordinances do not violate any
individual freedoms.
"When we drafted the [picketing] ordi
nance back in 2004 we did a lot of work on it
and involved, among others, the [American
Civil Liberties Union]," Hagemann said. "We
are pretty confident that the ordinance, as
written, is constitutional."
Yet, Benham and others with Operation
Save America disagree. Represented in part
by the arch-conservative legal group Alliance
Defense Fund, Benham claims the ordinances
violate the Rrst Amendment and city officials'
decisions regarding his event were different
when compared to those made on events he
says are similar to his pro-life memorial.
Pride Charlotte, the annual LGBT com
munity festival presented by the Lesbian
see Benham on 13
qnotes Jan. 23-Feb.