Yoga classes resume at San Diego beach as court says they are ‘protected speech’

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/06/yoga-classes-san-diego-beach

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Instructors Steven Hubbard and Amy Baack had sued after a city ordinance restricted such activities on the beach

Yoga classes are back on at San Diego beaches this week after a federal appeals court ruled that a city ordinance restricting such activities was unconstitutional and that teaching yoga was “protected speech”.

The three-judge panel of the US ninth circuit court of appeals on Wednesday overruled a San Diego judge and decided in favor of two instructors who had sued over a law that San Diego passed in 2024 banning yoga classes of four or more people at shoreline parks and beaches.

“Because the ordinance targets teaching yoga, it plainly implicates [the instructors’] first amendment right to speak,” the ruling stated, finding that the ordinance violated the instructors’ rights.

The city had argued the rule wasn’t specific to yoga, but commercial activity, as the instructors Steven Hubbard and Amy Baack’s free classes can draw as many as 100 people who give donations for each class ranging from $5 to $40.

“The city’s legitimate governmental interests in this case include the preservation, safety, and orderly use of its parks and beaches by all visitors and residents who visit them,” San Diego’s attorneys wrote in court papers, adding that the city and county drew 32 million visitors in 2023.

By Thursday, Hubbard had resumed teaching yoga to a dozen people underneath palm trees in the park at Pacific Beach. He said he was cited for his classes, which are free and open to all, at least 10 times since the ordinance took effect last year.

He began holding classes on a live stream from his backyard, just across the street from the beach. Bryan Pease, a lawyer for both instructors, said a park official cited Hubbard for holding classes in the park even though he was not there.

Outdoor yoga is a service to those who are disabled or cannot afford yoga classes elsewhere, said Pease.

“It is a popular thing here. We’re a beach community, and it’s a way for people to access yoga that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to,” Pease said.

At the Pacific Beach park, John Noack, who has attended Hubbard’s classes for four years, said he thought the group was targeted because wealthy homeowners in the area did not want people disturbing their oceanfront views.

“I personally see this as a triumph of community over a handful of elites,” Noack said.