LGBTQ Agenda: Gay Alabama man alleges discrimination ruined his business

A gay Alabama man is suing a small town in the Yellowhammer State in federal court. He alleges that it illegally discriminated against him in denying his business, now shuttered, a liquor license. 

The incident behind the case of Fuller v. Town of Rockford is just the latest in a number of concerning developments for LGBTQ rights in the Southern state.

The suit was filed in the Middle District of Alabama on September 19. The civil complaint alleges that Thomas Fuller was denied the license after he’d announced his intent to host a drag show at the site of his business. The drag show was canceled after the Town of Rockford, population 349, sent him a cease and desist letter.

Fuller received a business license for his restaurant and bar, Crossroads, on May 24, 2023, according to the complaint, which continued that the space was formerly occupied by Twenty-Two and Crew, which sold food and alcohol, and hosted live entertainment. Fuller sought to get the license that Twenty-Two and Crew operated under transferred to his new business.

On July 5, 2023, he received a transfer license “so that he could temporarily serve alcohol under the transfer license while he awaited to be placed on the Rockford Town Council’s agenda to obtain approval for a license in Crossroads’ name,” the complaint states.

At a later July meeting of the town council that was a prerequisite to getting a full license, he requested the same approval routinely granted to establishments owned by heterosexuals. Fuller “was questioned on matters such as the hours of operation, the type of business he had, and the food to alcohol sales ratio for Crossroads,” the complaint states. “Plaintiff reiterated that he was requesting the same letter of approval that was issued to other businesses in Rockford.”

Consideration of the item was pushed to August 2023; in the interim, Fuller advertised a planned drag show on the premises of his business, to which the Town of Rockford issued a cease and desist letter, claiming it would be in violation of “any license Crossroads obtained,” according to the civil complaint. Fuller canceled the show in response to the letter.

At the August meeting, Fuller was denied a full license. The complaint states that the town council “questioned Plaintiff’s [Fuller’s] character and morals during the meeting” and that “other businesses, owned and operated by heterosexual individuals, were permitted to host live performances without objection from Rockford’s Town Council,” including karaoke and live music. 

Ultimately, unable to obtain a full license, Fuller’s business had to close, the complaint states.

The Town of Rockford didn’t return a request for comment for this report. Fuller is being represented by attorneys from the Birmingham firm Maxwell and Tillman, which agreed to a phone interview with the Bay Area Reporter, but did not call at the scheduled time October 27. The B.A.R. attempted to follow up but was unable to get in touch with attorneys.

The suit has two causes of action: the first is a violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution. The second was a tort, claiming that the town interfered with his business and contractual relations.

The move to send a cease and desist letter to stop the drag show is reminiscent of neighboring Florida, where, as the B.A.R. has reported, Governor Ron DeSantis (R) signed legislation to restrict drag performances. The law is currently stayed due to a ruling of a three-judge panel of a federal appellate court, pending the outcome of litigation launched by Hamburger Mary’s Orlando, which claims that drag performances are protected under the First Amendment. Washington, D.C.-based Qommittee, a new national group to protect drag performers’ rights and that came out with a know-your-rights and organizing guide for Floridians, didn’t return comment for this report.

US Senate candidate speaks out
Alabama has also become a hotbed of threats to LGBTQ civil liberties. The Alabama Public Library Service Board of Directors is considering a rule change prohibiting “positively depicts transgender procedures, gender ideology, or the concept of more than two biological genders,” with a vote expected in November. 

Further, the acting U.S. Attorney from the Middle District of Alabama has indicted LGBTQ legal advocacy group Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund’s attorney Carl Charles on charges he committed perjury as part of an investigation into whether lawyers looked for sympathetic judges when seeking to challenge Alabama’s ban on gender-affirming care for youth.

Dakarai Larriett, a gay Black man running for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Alabama next year, put the Fuller case in the context of these other threats, saying, “The case of Thomas Fuller v. Town of Rockford highlights a disturbing trend in Alabama – an attack on equality targeting the LGBTQ+ community. It’s disheartening to see drag, an art form with millennia of history, turned into a culture war issue. From ancient Roman performances to the Harlem Renaissance, drag has long been a powerful means of expression that reflects the diversity of human experience.”

LGBTQ Agenda is an online column that appears weekly. Got a tip on queer news? Contact John Ferrannini at [email protected] .