According to multiple Wyoming news sources, the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, targets the airport, which is a collaborative effort between Sweetwater County and the city of Rock Springs, as well as airport director Devon Brubaker.
The complaint alleges violations of the First and Fourteenth Amendments, which safeguard free speech and due process, respectively. It seeks a court order mandating that the airport display the ad under the same conditions provided to other advertisers.
Moira Colley, director of media relations with PETA, has told news sources such as SweetWaterNOW that the airport had no advertising guidelines back in June 2022 and that guidelines were implemented shortly after PETA requested the advertisement be run.
“Rather than allowing the ad to run, the airport, as alleged, quickly scrambled to create a set of policy guidelines to attempt to justify rejecting it,” Colley said. PETA has called the policy “both unconstitutionally vague and inherently viewpoint-discriminatory, in violation of the First Amendment.”
A recording listed as from the Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport Board Meeting on July 13, 2022, was posted to PETA’s YouTube channel. The recording explains that the airport denied the ad, believing that it was not appropriate for the family environment in the airport.
In the video clip, Brubaker explains, “The reason this came about is we had a request from PETA to advertise in the terminal, and their requested ad was less than appropriate for a family environment. So I quickly reached out to my fellow airport directors, and I can’t take too much credit for writing this, this is largely word for word from Casper and Jackson. And we quickly denied their request. As much as I would love to have the revenue, it’s just not something we need to have in our terminal.”
PETA is also alleging that the airport has demonstrated an “anti-animal rights bias” because of its promotion of rodeos and display of taxidermied wildlife mounts.
Never mind the fact that Cody is the Rodeo Capital of the World and tourists flock to the Cowboy State to do just that — watch and participate in rodeos. Wyoming is also a top destination for big game hunters who visit the state to hunt mule deer, antelope, and elk, as well as Bighorn sheep, black bear, and more, bringing in over $1 billion to the economy in 2017.
Of course, Wyoming also boasts over 1.24 million head of cattle, with 2.15 cattle per person. So, it makes sense that one of Wyoming’s major airports would allow the display and advertisement of some of its top industries.
Tourism, which includes rodeo and outdoor attractions, is a major part of Wyoming’s economy, employing more people than any other industry in the state, bringing in $4.7 billion in visitor spending in 2023.
PETA’s aim to put advertising in the airport is part of a recent campaign to promote veganism in Wyoming. Back in April, PETA held a protest at the Wyoming State Capitol to push for a tax on meat, yet no one aside from the two people from the PETA organization dressed as cows showed up. The broader PETA effort is believed to be largely for show, as few have any actual expectations that such a campaign would have an impact in state such as Wyoming and its deep ranching heritage.
»Related: PETA petitions to strip ‘humane’-type language from meat labels