The City of Venice, Florida, announced this week it would create a streamlined Code of Conduct clause for those seeking special-event permits in the future — a likely response to the controversial public actions from a recent gay pride festival.
Moving forward, the city plans to outline the event hosts' responsibilities and repercussions for committing code infractions, according to The Florida Standard.
The proposed legislative change comes on the heels of last month's Venice Pride Festival in the city's Centennial Park, which is part of Sarasota County.
According to The Standard, a number of viral videos and photos were posted online from the festival, capturing what appeared to be "men attempting to pole dance on a lamp post" and also a "ring-toss game using sex toys."
That prompted a strongly worded letter from Jack Brill, acting chairman of the Republican Party of Sarasota County, who requested an investigation into the festival's alleged activities.
At Tuesday's meeting, Venice City Manager Ed Lavallee said festival organizers were "unaware of any responsibility" for the events that allegedly took place at the public park.
"There appears to be some lack of clarity on what that responsibility was," Lavallee stated at the meeting, while adding the Venice community "largely indicated a dislike for what happened but, more importantly, [to] fix that."
During the meeting, the city council also emphasized that an event host bears the responsibility of acting appropriately and aligning with local and state laws when granted a special event permit.
"This is not what we want in our public streets," said Rhonda Eynon, a Venice resident who attended the meeting.
For future festivals, Eynon suggested the city establish clear parameters for proper conduct. She also stated that Venice police should be empowered to enforce those parameters.
Another Venice resident, Marcia Snyder, expressed outrage for the city's apparent lack of oversight with the festival.
"I'm horrified by the events that went on downtown and were allowed," said Snyder.
The notion of "obscenity" could be subject to interpretation, Lavallee noted in the meeting.
However, since the festival was also billed as a family-friendly event, Lavallee added: "We certainly would not approve an application that would suggest any of that."
As a likely response to the Venice community's outrage, the Venice Pride group has reportedly canceled plans to participate in the city's upcoming holiday parade.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.