Arts & Eros

The city of Milwaukee is being sued over violating the free speech rights of a gay arts group. Three years ago city officials temporarily shut down performances of "Naked Boys Singing!"

"I think the title made it kind of controversial," Larry Dupuis, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, said. "But of course, `The Full Monty' has nudity in it, and that doesn't get it threats to shut it down."

In the lawsuit, the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center claims the city does not apply specific criteria when deciding what performances require a permit or not. .

"It could be used to discriminate," Dupuis said, "and we suspect that there was some sort of discriminatory thinking that went into the decision-making somewhere along the line."

The show has run into problems in the past in Provincetown, San Juan, and Atlanta. Twenty jiggly bits bouncing about on stage can be a little intimidating, but come on people: penises don't bite!

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