Court of Appeals sides with San Diego man in ‘leather kilt’ case

PASADENA, Calif.—The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has sided with a San Diego man who was arrested for wearing a ‘leather kilt’ to San Diego Pride.

Will Walters sued the City of San Diego claiming San Diego police officers had selectively enforced the nudity law in a manner that discriminated against him based upon sexual orientation.

After being approached by police at the 2011 San Diego LGBT Pride festival, Walters was arrested. Officers claimed the leather kilt he wore violated the city’s nudity ordinance, despite the fact that Walters was wearing underwear beneath the modest kilt, had worn the garment without incident during the Pride parade earlier that day—and had spent $1,000 for professional tailoring to ensure it was compliant with community standards.

In 2014 the City won the case brought by Walters with the court rejecting claims against the SDPD and the City, as well as Pride organizers.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a ruling in the city’s favor- finding that evidence must be heard of alleged San Diego Police discrimination, Pink News reported.

The three appeals court judges wrote:

“The district court erred in granting summary judgment for the City of San Diego and Lieutenant Nieslit on Walters’ Equal Protection Clause claims.

“There are material triable issues of fact as to whether the San Diego Police Department adopted a discriminatory policy of selectively enforcing the City’s nudity ordinance at San Diego Gay Pride in 2011.

“Walters presented evidence that Lieutenant Nieslit, the Lieutenant in charge of SDPD’s Special Events unit, attended a planning meeting of Pride Event volunteers and announced a new, more restrictive nudity policy for the Pride Event, which required that attendees fully cover their buttocks.

“Previously, by contrast, SDPD had enforced a ‘one-inch rule’ at the Pride Event, which only required a one-inch strip of fabric covering the center of an attendee’s buttocks.

“Walters also presented evidence that beachgoers and attendees of other special events in San Diego were in violation of the new nudity enforcement policy, but that SDPD did not increase enforcement anywhere except the Pride Event.

“That an officer referred to Walters as a “drama queen” during his arrest is additional evidence of discriminatory purpose,

“We therefore reverse the grant of summary judgment in favor of the City of San Diego and Lieutenant Nieslit.”

Look for our Southern California LGBT-media exclusive interview with Will Walters coming soon in San Diego LGBT Weekly.