Pride across East Texas

Timberland Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, located at 1510 Timberland Drive in Lufkin, hosts a number of Pride events this month

CAROLINE SAVOIE | ETx Reporter
carosavo@storydustsearch.com

TYLER — From the woods of Tyler to the shores of Cedar Creek Lake, East Texas is marking Pride Month with a swath of community gatherings, performances and resource fairs, as organizations across the region work to expand their reach and create welcoming spaces for LGBTQ+ residents and allies.
Rose City Pride

The centerpiece of the East Texas Pride season is Rose City Pride, hosted by Tyler Area Gays+ (TAG+) on June 20 at the W.T. Brookshire Conference Center in Tyler. Now in its third year under the current leadership, the event is on track to sell out, with organizers reporting that nearly all 120 vendor spots had been claimed more than a month before the event date.

“We had more people than we expected last year,” said Anthony Roberts, TAG+’s Pride chair who was elected to the board in January. “And we’re prepared to keep growing as this community does.”

Roberts, 34, is a Terrell native who has lived in Tyler for about 10 years with his husband, Colton Curry. He credited the event’s momentum to growing name recognition and a more aggressive outreach strategy.

Curry serves as TAG+’s vice president and chair of community outreach.

Rose City Pride will feature more than 100 vendors, drag performances and a range of health resources, including free testing offered by sexual health providers. The Glass House, a Tyler-based LGBTQ+ youth resource center, will set up a clothing closet at the event where attendees can get clothes and food at no cost. Go bags with reproductive health items will also be available.

TAG+ has been advertising the event in the Shreveport area and expects attendees from as far away as an hour-and-a-half to two hours from Tyler, including vendors from Nacogdoches who have returned for the second or third consecutive year.

Security is being expanded this year to five officers plus a supervisor, up from three officers in 2025. Roberts said the increase reflects anticipated growth in attendance rather than any specific threat. Last year’s event drew no protesters.

“I strive for people to feel safe and welcome and like they belong,” said Billy Diaz, TAG+ president.

After Rose City Pride wraps up, TAG+ will host an after-party at Rose City Draft House. Also, Tyler’s First Presbyterian Church is hosting a Pride concert featuring Turtle Creek Chorale on June 20.

Longview Pride
Longview Pride is scheduled for July 11 from 3-8 p.m. at the Maude Cobb Convention Center in Longview. The event was moved from June to July this year, a shift that organizers across the region say actually benefits the broader East Texas Pride calendar by spreading events across more of the summer.

Roberts noted a long-standing friendly rivalry with Longview over which city hosts the biggest Pride event in the region, as the two events have historically been scheduled on back-to-back weekends, allowing attendees to go to both.

Pride in Lufkin
The Pride Alliance of Lufkin might not have its official Pride event until October, but the organization is not waiting until the fall to celebrate. The group has a full June calendar anchored by the second annual Brown Bag Brunch at the Lufkin Zoo on June 6, Gayme Night on June 26 and three Queer Dungeons and Dragons nights on June 5, 12 and 19 — all hosted at Timberland Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

PAL will also partner with TUUF for a special Pride Month service on June 28 featuring a panel of LGBTQIA2S+ representatives, followed by a pet event and food drive.

Megan’s Closet, a PAL resource initiative, will be represented at Ren Faire Pride hosted by Lavender Lighthouse on June 13. The group will also have a booth at Rose City Pride in Tyler on June 20.

The Ren Faire Pride event, “Fae’s Hideaway,” is set for 2-9 p.m. Saturday, June 13, 1510 N. Timberland Drive in Lufkin. Admission is free.

PAL President Landy T. Andrews framed the organization’s approach to Pride Month in broad terms.

“Pride is so many things: a protest, a celebration, a way to be visible, a way for us to show others they can exist as themselves,” Andrews wrote in an email newsletter to members.

“Pride is whatever you need it to be, however you need it to exist for you.”

Andrews added that for him personally, Pride carries a specific weight.

“Pride is not about being proud of being queer,” he wrote. “To me, it’s about being proud of what we have overcome because our queerness often makes that survival hard-won.”

Cedar Creek Lake Pride
Cedar Creek Lake Pride, based in Gun Barrel City, is hosting a three-day celebration from June 26-28.

The weekend opens June 26 with a meet-and-greet party. On June 27, the group will host Splash Day on the Lake at Tom Finley Park from 2-7 p.m., a free, family-friendly event open to attendees arriving by boat or by land. The weekend wraps up June 28 with a drag brunch.
The organization, whose mission includes plans to eventually establish an LGBTQ+ community center in the area, has been building community through monthly mixers at Tiki Hut Bar and Grill throughout the year. More information is available at cedarcreeklakepride.com.

The spread of events reflects a maturing LGBTQ+ organizing landscape in a region that, as recently as a few years ago, lacked much of the infrastructure familiar to urban communities. Diaz and Roberts both described a business climate in East Texas that is slowly warming to visible LGBTQ+ support, even as many local companies prefer to give quietly.

“There’s a lot of businesses here that will say, ‘Here’s money, but don’t put my name on it,’“ Roberts said. He contrasted that culture with Dallas, where beer companies and other large brands actively compete to be seen sponsoring Pride events.

Still, Roberts pointed to progress: Trane, a major air conditioning manufacturer headquartered in Tyler, has recently launched a DEI program at its local offices and begun inviting TAG+ to participate in employee outreach lunches, a sign of shifting corporate attitudes.

Roberts said he hopes to eventually attract Dallas-based LGBTQ+ venues and organizations as sponsors for East Texas events, noting that many Tyler-area residents regularly make the drive to Dallas bars and clubs.

“Our money is going to Dallas,” he said. “Why not send some of that love and support back to us?”

For his part, Roberts sees the growing calendar of events as more than just a Pride season.

He said TAG+ now programs something nearly every night of the week during busy stretches, including karaoke nights at Sky Bar and the Plaid Rabbit, a monthly drag bingo brunch and the group’s Rainbow Market, held twice a year.

“Inconvenience is the price of community,” Roberts said. “And this community is one worth serving and celebrating, during Pride month and well beyond it.