First Amendment Victory! Wyoming Airport Agrees to Settlement After Rejecting PETA Ad

For Immediate Release:
February 27, 2025

Contact:
Nicole Perreira 202-483-7382

Rock Springs, Wyo. –

In a win for free speech, the Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport (SWRA) Board has agreed to run an anti-leather ad from PETA on the same terms offered to other advertisers, and has agreed to the language of a court order that will require it to treat PETA advertising the same as other advertisers in the future. The SWRA will also pay PETA $35,000 in legal fees as part of a settlement of PETA’s First Amendment lawsuit.

Public records revealed that the SWRA had no advertising guidelines in June 2022 when PETA first inquired about running the ad, which encouraged travelers to choose vegan luggage. But rather than allowing the ad to run, the airport, as alleged, quickly scrambled to create a set of policy guidelines to justify rejecting it. PETA filed a lawsuit against SWRA in the U.S. District Court of Wyoming, alleging that the airport’s newfound “policy” was unconstitutionally vague and inherently viewpoint-discriminatory, violating the First Amendment.

“Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport unconstitutionally tried to block PETA from asking consumers to choose vegan luggage that leaves cows in peace,” says PETA Foundation Director of Litigation Asher Smith. “PETA is celebrating this victory for the First Amendment and for cows who don’t want to be tormented and killed for their skins.”

Cows have friends, hold grudges against other cows, and mourn when a loved one dies or when they’re separated from each other. Cows raised for leather may be skinned and dismembered while still conscious—having already endured castration, branding, or tail-docking without painkillers. Sustainable vegan leather made from a range of innovative materials is widely available.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of PETA with the assistance of local counsel Megan L. Hayes, an attorney based in Laramie, Wyoming.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear or abuse in any other way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.