A decision preventing a company from holding an adult sex-themed event at Dallas' convention center—even after the city's own attorney warned that such a move would violate the business' free-speech rights—has been reversed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in a 2-1 decision.

According to the decision in Three Expo Events v. City of Dallas, Three Expo Events staged a well-attended and economically successful event called “Exxxotica 2015,” which featured near nudity and sexually suggestive activities that drew opposition from some Dallas citizens on moral and civic grounds.

Dallas' mayor acknowledged that he was concerned about the city providing a forum for the event, but he and other city officials took the position at the time that they could not legally and constitutionally deny the use of the city's convention center to Three Expo based on the content of its speech or expression.