Rowlett’s water tower flashed rainbow colors last year until the complaints began.
Even though Pride celebrations are going on all around North Texas, two cities have insisted on creating obstacles to Pride instead.
When Rowlett disbanded its DEI commission that was helping to organize that city’s Pride, members of the disbanded DEI commission stepped up to organize Rowlett DEI Project instead. Now Rowlett Pride will take place on June 28 from 6-9 p.m. at 4001 Main St., Rowlett.
A Rowlett DEI Commission Rally will take place at City Hall, 4000 Main St., on July 2 at 6:30 p.m.
Meanwhile in Princeton, the school board is doing what it can to prevent Princeton Pride from taking place.
At a school board meeting Wednesday, June 12, Princeton TX Diverse and Color Splash Out were again denied use of school property — the same property they’ve used in the past — to stage Princeton Pride. Further, they were banned from renting a booth at other festivals staged on school property.
One area of contention were books Princeton TX Diverse gave away as prizes at their booth at the city’s Onion Festival. They were told the group was banned from school property for giving away banned books, but when the group asked for a list of banned books, they were told no such list exists.
At the Wednesday night meeting, two books the group distributed were discussed. It was revealed that one of those books is available at in a Princeton school library.
Princeton Pride that had been slated for later this month had to be canceled because of the school district’s rulings, but organizers vow to hold a Pride celebration in the city later this year.
“It is shameful that the Princeton ISD chose to uphold its discriminatory decisions, especially during Pride month,” said ACLU attorney Charelle Lett. “The district has turned its back on the Constitution and its community. All options are on the table as we advocate for our clients and continue fighting for LGBTQIA+ rights. Princeton Pride has been rescheduled for October and both Color Splash Out and PTX Diverse will continue serving the ENTIRE Princeton, Texas community.”
— David Taffet