City, Dyke March leaders at odds

Deirdre Newman

With last year’s march under their belts, organizers of the Orange

County Dyke March thought obtaining their permit for this year’s

march would be a breeze.

Instead, the city handed them 22 conditions they have to meet to

receive their permit, including some they say infringe upon their 1st

Amendment rights.

The organizing committee wants a permit to use Lion’s Park for a

noon rally on Aug. 16. The march would begin at 5 p.m.

After the group threatened the city with a lawsuit from the

American Civil Liberties Union, the city yielded a little in its

restrictions. It is now up to the committee to decide whether the

city has budged enough.

“We won’t know for another day or two, so things are still kind of

up in the air,” said Tricia Aymes, director of communications for the

Gay and Lesbian Center of Orange County, which funds the march.

Jim Golfos, a city code enforcement official, said the conditions

imposed on the committee were the same that would be set for any

group asking for the same features.

“I don’t quite understand why they were upset with so many

restrictions, because ... they’re not real stringent,” Golfos said.

The committee’s first staging of the lesbian pride march last year

was controversial, as well. Organizers had asked to have their permit

fees waived, but withdrew that request when they obtained their

desired route through the city.

The route this year will be 18th Street to Pomona Avenue to West

19th Street, east to Harbor Boulevard south, and ending before the

Newport Boulevard intersection. Rolling street closures will occur in

the direction of travel, with police escorts accompanying the

marchers.

Golfos said closing down the street is a big deal, especially

during a summer weekend day.

“The city manager took a special interest in this [event], but he

has to balance it with the safety for other citizens,” Golfos said.

The conditions include requiring all motorcycle riders to attend a

safety briefing with the Police Department and mandating that sound

levels stay below 55 decibels at the residential property line.

One that really riled the march organizers was the condition

requiring all participating motorcycle riders to provide their names,

addresses and other personal information to the police in advance of

the event.

City officials were sympathetic to the committee’s concerns over

this condition and decided to let the committee make the list and

keep it, instead of giving it to the city, Golfos said.

The city also deleted another condition that threatened denial of

future permits for similar events if the committee failed to comply

with any of the other conditions. The committee said it felt

intimidated by that condition since it wasn’t included in three

previous permits offered to the group.

At Monday’s City Council meeting, Lori Hutson, organizing

committee co-chair, said the committee would like to resolve its

differences with the city without resorting to legal action. As of

press time, 21 conditions remained.