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Council approves Logan County Pride street closure after objections from some aldermen
Summary
Lincoln aldermen voted to approve street closures for the Logan County Pride festival on June 7, 2025; two members abstained and several spoke about whether the city must endorse all positions held by event organizers.
The Lincoln City Council approved a street-closure request for the Logan County Pride festival on June 7, 2025, after a brief exchange among aldermen about whether approving the closure amounted to endorsing the organizations positions on other issues.
Alderman O'Donohue moved to approve the consent agenda item that included the requested closures of South Kickapoo Street (Broadway to Pulaski), Pulaski Street (South Kickapoo to South McLean) and South McLean Street (Plasky Street north to the U.S. Post Office driveway) for the festival from noon to 9 p.m. Alderman Bateman seconded the motion. Alderman Barrett said he could not support part C of the consent item because, he said, the organization "isn't also in support of gender-affirming care and biological males playing in female sports" and he could not support that. Alderman Downs responded that Logan County Pride is asking only for road closures for a festival and that the county organization "probably doesn't have a stance on any of those" larger issues; he said, "We're just here for a bridal fest. No. We're not getting into those larger things. We've never made a stance on those items." Alderman Nymer asked whether the item needed to be split for separate votes; council members chose not to separate the consent item and proceeded to roll call.
Roll-call for the consent vote recorded four yes votes — Alderman Bateman, Alderman Downs, Alderman Ross and Alderman O'Donohue — and two abstentions by Alderman Parritt and Alderman Eimer. The motion passed.
Why it matters: Approving the permit allows the Logan County Pride festival to use the requested downtown streets for its June event; the discussion reflects how some council members treated permitting decisions as distinct from endorsement of outside groups' broader policy positions.
Council action: Motion passed; city clerk to complete closure permit and notify applicant.
Quotes from the meeting: "It's hard to be in support of an organization that... I cannot be in support of that," Alderman Barrett said, referring to parts of the consent item. "Logan County probably doesn't have a stance on any of those. We support LGBTQ, but there's no specific stances on trans people in sports ... We're just here for a bridal fest," Alderman Downs said.
The council completed other business and adjourned at 6:22 p.m.
