Followers of the Falun Gong spiritual movement did not suffer discrimination when the group was barred from marching in a Chinese New Year Parade that received city funding, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Superior Court Judge Patrick Mahoney sided with the city Human Rights Commission's conclusion that the Chinese Chamber of Commerce was within its rights to exclude Falun Gong, which is banned in China. Mahoney issued a tentative ruling Tuesday, but made it final Wednesday after hearing arguments from attorneys on both sides.
The city contributes $77,000 of the parade's more than $800,000 budget along with police protection. This year's procession, which celebrates the Year of the Pig, is scheduled for March 3 in downtown San Francisco.
The plaintiffs, who had sought to block the city from funding the annual extravaganza, said they plan to appeal the ruling.
Attorneys for Falun Gong had argued that once a private group accepts government money for an event, it loses its right to choose who can participate.
"Free speech is not an excuse to discriminate when government action or funding is involved," said plaintiff attorney Morton Sklar.
Attorneys for San Francisco said cultural events are by nature exclusive to the culture they represent, and the city law allows organizers to select participants.
The city, which provides grants to a variety of artistic and cultural events, "doesn't control the ability of a grant recipient to decide who's going to participate in an expressive activity," said attorney Wayne Snodgrass.
The business group has rejected Falun Gong's request to participate in this year's parade after excluding them last year, claiming practitioners previously violated the parade's ban on political activity when they handed out anti-China leaflets.
Practitioners allege that local Chinese businessmen are bowing to pressure from the Chinese government, which considers Falun Gong a dangerous cult and has banned the group. They note that Chinese Consulate General Peng Keyu sits on the chamber's board.
"We're trying to protect our fundamental human rights," said Falun Gong spokeswoman Sherry Zhang. "We don't want to be separated from the rest of the Chinese community."
Falun Gong, which mixes elements of Buddhism, Taoism and traditional Chinese thought with meditation and simple exercises, in recent years has been also excluded from lunar new year parades in Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley in Southern California.
(Associated Press, February 14, 2007)
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