TAMPA, Fla. -- A conservative Christian group will be permitted to promote its anti-homosexuality conference on bus shelter ads under a settlement reached in a federal lawsuit, the group said Tuesday.
Focus on the Family had sued the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority over its refusal to advertise the February 2000 "Love Won Out" conference, which promoted a theory that homosexuality can be "prevented" or overcome through prayer and religious practice.
The group, based in Colorado Springs, Colo., was refunded nearly $5,000 it paid to have posters installed in bus shelters before the seminar. It sued, arguing the government cannot limit advertising because it fears the message might offend some people.
Under the settlement, the bus system and its sign contractor refined their policies to allow the signs when the seminar comes to the area again next year, said Mathew D. Staver, a lawyer for Focus on the Family.
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