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The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana has filed two court actions against the City of Loogootee over recent city ordinances that the ACLU says appear to prevent a local organization from hosting a pride festival on the city’s public square.
One filing alleges that the city is in contempt of a court order that granted a permanent injunction on a previously issued ordinance. The second filing alleges that the city’s most recent ordinance violates the First Amendment.
The ACLU filed the actions on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court of Southern Indiana on behalf of Patoka Valley AIDS Community Action Group Inc., a Dubois County volunteer group that raises awareness on HIV/AIDs.
The filings name the City of Loogootee, Indiana, as the defendant.
“Court orders must be complied with, and Loogootee, by enacting an ordinance that contains provisions enjoined by the Court, is in contempt of its lawful orders. Moreover, the ordinance it has adopted continues Loogootee’s pattern of attempting to unconstitutionally restrict this celebration of the LGBTQ+ community,” Ken Falk, legal director of the ACLU of Indiana, said in a press release. “We will continue to vigorously defend our client’s right to hold the event at their desired location in the heart of Loogootee.”
Loogootee City Attorney Steven Teverbaugh did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to the complaint, the city has passed several ordinances designed to regulate “special events” that happen within city boundaries, including in buildings, parks, streets, and open spaces.
The city approved a permit request for Patoka Valley to host its first PrideFest in the city’s public square in 2023, but updates to city ordinances in 2024 and 2025 impacted the festival’s permit approvals for the following years.
In 2024, the city initially approved plans for the PrideFest to take place in the public square but rescinded that approval when Ordinance No. 2024-04 was passed. Patoka Valley then submitted a new permit request for the 2024 festival, and when there had been no ruling on the request, the organization filed litigation in the Southern Indiana District Court challenging the constitutionality of the ordinance.
While that motion was pending, the city approved Patoka Valley’s request, and the 2024 festival was held for that year.
Patoka Valley once again applied for a permit for the 2025 festival, but the city did not respond, and instead passed Ordinance No. 2025-1, amending the 2024 ordinance. The city later approved Patoka Valley’s permit application for the 2025 festival but in accordance to the updated ordinance, only approved the festival to take place in the Loogootee city park or the green space instead of the public square.
In response, Patoka Valley sought preliminary injunction and partial summary judgment, calling the 2024 and 2025 ordinances unconstitutional because it allowed a permit to be denied if an event would present an unreasonable danger to the city and its people.
In October 2025, district court Judge Richard L Young entered a permanent injunction preventing the enforcement of the city’s 2025 ordinance, and Patoka Valley held its 2025 festival.
But when the organization applied for its 2026 festival permit, the city refused to rule on it again, indicating that a new ordinance would be created, according to court documents.
In late December 2025, the city enacted Ordinance No. 2025-14, which the lawsuit claims is a near-verbatim copy of the 2025 ordinance that the court entered an injunction on. The complaint argues that the new ordinance allows PrideFest to be held anywhere in the city besides the public square.
Patoka Valley is now suing the city for this latest ordinance, asking the court to declare that the ordinance is unconstitutional and to enter a permanent injunction prohibiting the city from enforcing it.
In tandem with the complaint, the organization filed a motion for contempt, arguing that by creating a new ordinance that’s near-identical to the previous one, the city is in contempt of the final ruling made by Judge Young back in October.
The new case is Patoka Valley AIDs Community Action Group, Inc., v. City of Loogootee, Indiana, 3:26-cv-00002-MPB-CSW.
The motion for contempt is attached to Patoka Valley’s original lawsuit against the city, which is Patoka Valley AIDs Community Action Group, Inc., v. City of Loogootee, Indiana, 3:24-cv-00100-RLY-CSW.
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