The City of Denton agreed to keep sex-specific changing room rules in place ahead of “Big Gay Swim Day” after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the city over access at a public pool.
PRIDENTON and OUTreach Denton scheduled the June 7 event at the Quakertown Civic Center pool.
Denton Agreement Follows Lawsuit
Paxton’s office said Friday that Denton agreed to maintain its existing men’s and women’s changing room designations, keep signage separating the changing areas, prevent renters from altering or covering signs, prohibit renters from operating “gender-neutral” changing areas, and require event organizers to commit to following Texas law.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Paxton sued the City of Denton, Mayor Gerard Hudspeth, Interim City Manager Cassey Ogden, and Interim Parks and Recreation Director Allison Wing after alleging the city planned to allow violations of the Texas Women’s Privacy Act at the public swimming facility.
The lawsuit argued that event organizers had promoted “gender-neutral changing rooms” at the city-owned facility, even though the civic center’s changing rooms are designated by biological sex and designed for multiple occupants.
What The State Alleged
The state’s original petition said the Quakertown Civic Center includes a public pool and multiple-occupancy changing rooms. The filing alleged that PRIDENTON and OUTreach Denton rented the center for the June 7 event from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
The petition also alleged that organizers promoted the event as open to all ages and advertised that “gender neutral changing rooms” would be available.
Senate Bill 8, known as the Texas Women’s Privacy Act, sat at the center of the case. The law requires political subdivisions and state agencies to designate publicly owned multiple-occupancy private spaces, including restrooms, locker rooms, and changing rooms, for use by one sex only. It also requires them to take reasonable steps to prevent individuals of the opposite sex from entering those spaces.
Paxton Claims Victory
“This is a major victory for the privacy and safety of women and children,” Paxton said. “The City of Denton has now agreed to follow the law and ensure that men are not allowed in women’s and girl’s changing areas. I will continue to ensure that every government entity in Texas complies with our laws protecting women and children.”
Paxton’s office said the agreement followed the lawsuit’s effort to stop the creation of multiple-occupancy “gender-neutral” changing rooms at the publicly owned facility.
Organizers Previously Pushed Back
PRIDENTON and OUTreach Denton previously called the lawsuit “frivolous” and a “waste of taxpayers’ time and money,” saying they had already removed the “all-gender bathrooms” language from their advertisements.
“Since 2022, Big Gay Swim Day has been a beautiful event where invited community members can swim, dance, and exist without fear of judgement or harassment,” the organizers said in their previous statement. “It is disappointing that bad actors have attempted to turn queer joy into political spectacle.”
The agreement marks the latest development in a Denton dispute that became an early test of Texas’ new restrictions on publicly owned changing rooms, restrooms, locker rooms, and similar private spaces.
