Meeting to Focus on Gay Pride Festival

The controversial Gay Pride Festival will be discussed at Monday’s Santa Ana City Council meeting at the request of Councilman John Acosta, but no action is expected.

The city has issued a permit for the festival to be held Sept. 9-10 at Santa Ana’s Centennial Park. But the festival has drawn opposition from a fundamentalist Christian group and some city employees.

Meanwhile, the Rev. Lou Sheldon of the California Coalition for Traditional Values, said his group has sent notices to “a very select mailing list” advising that Santa Ana residents are “considering exploratory legal action based on public safety” in an attempt to block the festival.

Sheldon said opponents of the festival will be out in force at Monday’s council meeting.

“You just don’t bring those kinds of behavior and life style into this county and not get a reaction,” Sheldon said of the gay festival. “This is clearly happening because an outside group is forcing their behavior and standard of immorality on the county.”

Acosta said Wednesday that while he does not oppose “anything that’s within the law,” he will speaking against the festival Monday.

“I am responding to the pressure of the community, the voters . . . who should have a voice,” Acosta said.

City Manager David N. Ream said the issue cannot be voted on by the council next week and that authority for issuing permits has been delegated to the director of recreation and community services, who has issued a permit for the festival.

The city attorney has ruled that the council cannot retroactively revoke the permit, Ream said.

Nevertheless, Acosta said he would like the council to cancel or relocate the festival.

Festival organizers will not attend Monday’s meeting, but their attorney, John Duran, will.

“I understand there is nothing to be voted on,” said Duran . “It seems to me Councilman Acosta is doing it to win political chits with Rev. Sheldon and his” California Coalition for Traditional Values.

“The whole thought of the First Amendment being dictated by a religious leader is . . . repugnant,” Duran said.