By Gary Humble
The City of Franklin embarked on a fruitless venture to steal the religious liberty of fellow Tennesseans all on the taxpayer dime.
Joe Cocchini was arrested by City of Franklin Police during the Franklin Pride festival on June 3, 2023, in historic Harlinsdale Farm, a public park. The crime? Criminal trespassing.
You would think that after some time had passed, cooler heads would have prevailed, and city officials would have recognized that they had made a grave constitutional error with this arrest. But alas, the crazy continued.
The city pursued these criminal charges against Mr. Cocchini and took him to trial. The pretrial hearing took place in Williamson County on November 7, 2023, and the judge dismissed the case finding no probable cause on which to bring these charges.
In sworn testimony, police officers admitted that they arrested Joe with no legal basis but simply at the request of pride event organizers even though he had committed no crime. Additionally, they admitted to being at the festival on behalf of the city and on the taxpayers’ dime.
Some not familiar with the details of this case are dismissing the effort to defend religious liberty because in their view the park seemingly became “private property” at such time as it was “rented” out for the pride festival. But the truth is that at no time was this public park “rented” and at no time did this public taxpayer-funded property become private property.
The fact is that a pride festival taking place in downtown Franklin, Tennessee billed as a family-friendly event is a contentious issue in the community. We have watched over the years a progressive LGBT agenda sweep across this country working to normalize what many deem to be sinful, or at the very least, unbecoming behavior, especially when brought into the public forum.
And make no mistake, this is not just a Christian belief, but was a generally accepted sentiment, not all that long ago. People choose to forget that just a few short years ago when then-Senator Barack Obama was running for President in 2008, he publicly denounced gay marriage on the campaign trail. And for that matter, so did Joe Biden.
Additionally, 31 states define marriage as between one man and one woman in their state constitutions including the state of California which passed Proposition 8 in 2008 with a 52% majority vote on the constitutional amendment.
That amendment to the Constitution of the State of Tennessee passed in 2006 with an 81% majority vote.
Homosexuality is a contentious issue around the world. Always has been. And no matter how hard the agenda rages on, it always will be. In some parts of the world, practicing homosexuality is not only criminal but carries the death penalty. The recent Gays for Palestine chants by many in the LGBT community are surely the height of lunacy considering that gays in Palestine (not a country) would most likely be stoned to death.
Just this year, a bill was signed into law in Uganda that carries a penalty of life in prison if convicted of homosexuality.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni came to power vowing to combat the LGBT lobby. Surrogacy was already illegal in the country. But new laws now make surrogacy abroad illegal meaning that same-sex couples are unable to start families even by having surrogate children abroad. This is part of Italy’s move to preserve the sanctity of marriage and the traditional family in their country.
The reason for mentioning all of this is to make the point that by no means is public sentiment settled on this issue, though the media works overtime trying to portray that it is. And certainly, drag queen story hours did not help the LGBT cause when it chose to deliberately come after children. The people of Tennessee responded just this year with legislation banning sexually explicit performances in the presence of minors.
The problem is that the left has been successful on many fronts including demonizing the Christian perspective on sexuality.
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why the First Amendment is the bedrock of the American experiment. It is the linchpin upon which all our rights hang in the balance. And because this is so, it must be viciously protected.
To some, portions of this commentary will be found offensive. And certainly, to some, Mr. Cocchini’s expressed views are offensive. But the fact that some might find certain speech to be offensive is the express necessity of the right to free speech. If no speech could be found offensive, then the entire premise of the First Amendment would be rendered moot.
The problem is that the left has been successful on many fronts including demonizing the Christian perspective on sexuality. From media pundits to elected officials, and even in the courts, the left has found victory in pushing an agenda that is counterculture to both our founding and fundamental beliefs about society and family. But this is where our voice becomes critical.
Joe Cocchini chose on June 3, 2023, to exercise his voice in the arena of public debate and peacefully engage in conversation with those who might disagree with his views. Unfortunately, the City of Franklin chose to silence his voice and lift up those voices that it deemed to have a priority and necessity in a very bastardized view of free speech rights.
This cannot stand. And it will not.
On Friday, November 10, 2023, a lawsuit was filed against the City of Franklin on behalf of Joe Cocchini in federal court on the grounds of that civil rights violation. We believe this case to be of paramount importance in terms of not only defending religious liberty but upholding the constitutionally protected rights of every citizen to engage in the necessary public debate of the day in the public square. If we lose that, we truly lose everything.
Here are some pertinent statements directly from the federal court filing, Cocchini v City of Franklin.
“Officer Spry further testified that when he first approached Mr. Cocchini on the date of his arrest, he had not observed him engage in any type of criminal or wrongful conduct. Specifically, he testified that Mr. Cocchini was respectful at all time[s], had not engaged in any disorderly conduct, had not abused any alcohol or other substance, had no weapon in his possession, and had not violated any of the posted rules of conduct for the event. Officer Spry testified under oath that the only reason he placed Mr. Cocchini under arrest was because the event coordinator told him that they wanted Mr. Cocchini removed from the park.”
“On April 8, 2023, Franklin Pride posted a video to Instagram. In that video, Clayton Klutts, President of Franklin Pride, states: “We do not allow anyone to proselytize for any reason their religion, their politics, their lifestyle.
This prohibition on constitutionally-protected free speech was effectively enforced by Franklin Pride with armed officers from City of Franklin Police Department.”
“Officer Spry confirmed this point at the preliminary hearing. He testified that he had “removed several individuals” from the park during the event solely because the event coordinator wanted them removed. Plaintiff alleges that none of these individuals who were removed by police escort from the property during the Franklin Pride event had committed any criminal offense, but instead were removed solely on the basis of their peaceful expression of certain viewpoints that Franklin Pride found objectionable.”
“In another portion of the Franklin Pride video, Sandra Morton, the programming and entertainment board member, states: ‘We do require unconditional acceptance of the LGBTQ person.’”
“As further evidence of Franklin Pride’s intolerance of anyone who adhered to a traditional, biblical view of marriage or human sexuality, it established a “check point” at the entrance to the event at which a volunteer for the event checked the purses or handbags of those entering the event. Two ladies who came to attend the event were discovered to have bibles in their purses. Franklin Pride turned these women away and forbid them entry into the event because their bibles were characterized by Franklin Pride as “dangerous literature”.”
“The actions of the City of Franklin effectively bestowed the full police power of the state on an independent actor, i.e. Franklin Pride, to carry out and enforce an arbitrary and discriminatory policy designed to punish individual free speech activity based solely on the content or viewpoint being expressed.”
“The City of Franklin falsely represented to the Plaintiff and other individuals who attended this public event on June 3, 2023, that Franklin Pride had “rented-out” the park and that this effectively transformed this city park into “private property”.
In point of fact, Franklin Pride was at all times relevant, a “permitee” who had merely been granted a permit to use the Park on the date in question.”
“The unwritten policy and practice of the Defendant the City of Franklin vests in its Executive broad power to discriminate against speech on the basis of the content and viewpoints expressed.
Avoiding offense to gay, lesbian or transgender individuals is not an acceptable justification for religious viewpoint discrimination. See Ne. Pa. Freethought Soc’y, 938 F.3d at 439; ac- cord Matal v. Tam, 137 S. Ct. 1744, 1763 (2017) (giving offense is a viewpoint).”