Trinity Pride Fest 2024 will be held on Saturday in Fort Worth and will feature drag performances open to attendees of all ages, courtesy of at least one non-profit sponsor that receives taxpayer dollars from the City of Fort Worth.
The event, which runs from 6 to 10 p.m. and is free to the public, will feature drag performers Kylee O’Hara Fatale, Deja Dubois, JT Davenport, Sapphire Davenport, and Salem Moon.
Trinity Pride Fest is sponsored by Help Center for LGBT Health and Wellness, BNSF Railway, Fort Worth Weekly, Galileo Church, Visit Fort Worth, and others.
Visit Fort Worth is a non-profit entity that promotes tourism. The organization is listed as the production sponsor for the event.
“Fort Worth is the 12th-largest city in the United States, known for Texas hospitality and a dozen remarkable districts full of culture and fun,” Visit Fort Worth’s website states.
According to documents obtained by The Dallas Express via a Freedom of Information Act request, Visit Fort Worth received $18,313,997 from the City of Fort Worth’s Public Events, Culture & Tourism account.
Visit Fort Worth has a history of promoting drag shows, including ones open to children.
“Moondance Drag Brunch,” “MyOhMy A Drag Show Extravaganza!,” and “Patrick Mikyles Presents: Drag With Me! The Show” are several of the events that Visit Fort Worth has promoted, ostensibly using taxpayer dollars.
The notion of children attending drag performances has prompted consternation, not just in DFW but across Texas.
“I’m concerned about how this impacts children’s view of biology and reality, but also these men — and in this case a woman — who dress up in these outlandish costumes that present to children this very pornographied view of women where it is these insanely large prosthetic breasts and clownlike makeup with huge hair,” Michelle Evans, a Republican activist from Williamson County, previously told DX. “How insidious can this be? If we normalize this for children, we are normalizing that misogynistic view of women.”
Others, like Dallas City Council Member Chad West (District 1), seem to believe that having children at such events is not an issue.
“I defer to parents to determine appropriate venues and performances for their children to visit and support the First Amendment right of free speech, which includes most types of performances,” West told DX last month.
DFW Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence will be among the “social clubs” in attendance at the June 15 event. As previously reported by DX, the group, described as “a leading-edge Order of queer and trans nuns,” was among those acknowledged at the Dallas 2023 Pride in Excellence Awards reception last year. It has also been described as an “anti-Catholic hate group” because its biologically male members dress as female nuns.
DX reached out to Trinity Pride Fest and Visit Fort Worth for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.