Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride, Inc. v. City of Long Beach

These appeals present numerous challenges to the constitutionality of the parade permit ordinance of the City of Long Beach (City), Long Beach Municipal Code Chapter 5.60 (hereafter cited by section and referred to as Chapter 5.60.) . The City, defendant below, appeals from the superior court’s judgment insofar as it holds that section 5.60.030(C) of the ordinance imparts unconstitutionally broad administrative discretion over the grant or denial of parade permits, and that since that section cannot be severed from the rest, the ordinance is entirely invalid. In their cross-appeal, plaintiffs, Long Beach Lesbian and Gay Pride, Inc. (LBLGP) and certain of its taxpayer-members, challenge the judgment’s further declaration that numerous other features and provisions of Chapter 5.60—most prominently, those requiring parade permittees to pay for City services and carry insurance—are constitutionally valid. LBLGP also seeks damages from the City on account of charges paid under these provisions.

We hold first that the superior court correctly determined that, as drafted, the ordinance’s central provision governing the issuance of permits unconstitutionally grants unrestrained…