An Alabama LGBTQ+ group has asked a federal judge to issue an injunction over a mayors decision to block the group from marching in an annual Christmas parade happening this Sunday. The mayor has said that he excluded the group over safety concerns.Prattville Pride was the first local group to pay the fee to join the city of Pratvilles annual Christmas parade. The group also said it will abide by the parades rules. However, when an anti-LGBTQ+ group calledClean Up Alabama found out about the Pride groups inclusion, it sent out an email asking its supporters to pressure the parades organizers to remove Prattville Pride from the event. Related This big gay winter festival was the ancient precursor to Christmas It was one of the most elaborate mid-winter parties in human history and was filled with a combination of booze, sex, and gratitude. Clean Up Alabama claimed that Prattville Pride would display transgender Pride flags or drag queens in violation of the parades family friendly policies against political messaging and lewd and offensive entries. Stay connected to your community Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today The towns Mayor Bill Gillespie initially said the city will ensure all persons are served and respected equally while maintaining a safe Christmas parade event for us all. However, on Wednesday, Prattville Pride asked the city for extra security during the parade. Then, on Thursday morning, the city government informed Prattville Pride that it was no longer allowed to participate.This morning, it was brought to the Citys attention from Prattville Pride that there are serious safety concerns regarding Prattville Prides participation in the Christmas parade, a statement from Gillespies office said, according to WSFA. Until today, there has only been conjecture and speculation regarding potential safety concerns that Prattville Prides participation in the parade may cause.The City will not put the rights of parade participants ahead of the safety of its citizens, the statement continued. Because of the safety concerns for Prattville Pride, other parade participants, as well as parade bystanders, the City has made the decision to remove Prattville Pride from the Christmas parade. This decision was made with careful thought and consideration while balancing the rights of parade participants against the overall safety of everyone involved at the parade, the statement concluded. The City will always respect freedoms and rights of expression. However, as in this instance, it must put the overall safety of its citizens first.In response, Prattville Pride filed for an injunction at a federal court, demanding to be allowed back into the parade. The group said it still plans on building its parade float in the hopes that the court will allow their re-entry.We had the purest of intentions in signing up: visibility, representation, offering a fun opportunity for our community to get involved with a tradition in Prattville, said Prattville Prides vice president, Caryl Lawson. We believe that we have a very strong case. The Constitution supports our case, and were very hopeful that the injunction gets approved in time for us to participate. Lawson may have a strong case. In 1995, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Group of Boston, that a private group that organized the annual St. Patricks Day parade in Boston couldnt be forced to include an LGBTQ+ group whose views it disagreed with, even though the parade occurred on the city streets.In this case, the Christmas parades organizers arent a private group but a municipal government, and governments in the U.S. arent supposed to exclude groups for political viewpoints because it would violate the Constitutions free speech amendment (just as long as the groups follow whatever other participatory rules set forth).Prattville has a population of 39,318, 67.74% of its population is white, and 20.93% is Black.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.