The city of Seattle holds Christian groups to a different — and dangerous — standard than secular groups when it comes to permits for public forum events.
The organizers of Mayday USA, a “grassroots revival event,” applied for a permit to hold an event at the city’s traditional public forum on Pike Street in downtown. The city rejected the permit for that location because of Mayday USA’s religious message. Instead, the city told the group it had to hold the event at Cal Anderson Park, a predominantly “LGBTQ+ community.”
Was it a provocation? Leftists attacked attendees and volunteers. No one was arrested.
On behalf of Mayday USA, Liberty Counsel (LC) filed a lawsuit against Seattle over its unconstitutional permitting process.
LC asked the court to issue a motion for a preliminary injunction against the event permit process, which was denied. The court contended that Mayday USA lacked standing in the case since the organization had no future events planned in the city.
Mayday USA will ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to hear arguments in the case. From LC:
In its September 2025 lawsuit, Liberty Counsel specifically argues that Seattle’s Special Event Permitting Scheme “vests unbridled discretion” into the hands of city officials to deny a permit and shut down an event based on the views expressed by the applicant and the views expressed at the event, as well as based on listener reaction to those views.
According to LC, defendants in the case, which include former Mayor Bruce Harrell and Chief of Police Shon Barnes, claim that religion wasn’t relevant in the permit denial.
“…Mayor Harrell stated that the event was held in an LGBTQ community to “provoke a reaction” by ‘inherently opposing the city’s values.’ He blamed the peaceful Mayday organizers for the violence they suffered rather than the perpetrators while other religious sects and leaders joined in to condemn Mayday’s religious speech.”
If the Ninth Circuit allows Mayday USA to sue Seattle, the city will probably settle the case based on the evidence of blatant discrimination.
Mat Staver, LC founder and chairman, said that Mayday USA has “standing to pursue an injunction because their peaceful public expression of Christian viewpoints was treated differently than secular messages by not being allowed in the city’s traditional Pike Street public forum.”
What Seattle did “cannot withstand First Amendment scrutiny and causes irreparable harm to free speech,” Staver added.
Mayday USA also sued Los Angeles, which denied the group a public forum permit. The city used what happened to attendees and volunteers at the Seattle event to deny the permit. Leftists attacked people, and leftist bureaucrats in LA used that as an excuse to discriminate against the Christians who were attacked.
Photo credit: Photo credit: KOMO News video screenshot
