As LGBTQ organizers planned the final touches for Fort Worth’s Trinity Pride Fest, City Council member Elizabeth Beck plotted a secret addition to make the Pride celebration that much more special.
Beck, who represents the Near Southside where Trinity Pride took place June 28, directed city staff to illuminate City Hall’s rooftop with rainbow-colored lighting as a public display of solidarity with the LGBTQ community.
“The LGBTQ community is so used to having to fight for their recognition, to fight to have their celebrations, and so I think a surprise of City Hall being lit up in honor of them and their fight and their pride is an unexpected surprise,” Beck told the Fort Worth Report before it happened. “I just think it’ll bring a little joy to the community.”
Fort Worth’s new City Hall, the former Pier 1 building at 100 Fort Worth Trail, came with several technological upgrades from the city’s former headquarters at 200 Texas St. Those upgrades include the ability to change the rooftop’s lighting with different colors and/or designs to recognize events and occasions across Fort Worth.
The rooftop typically displays white lighting, but the colors may change to honor federally recognized holidays, city-initiated events and initiatives, and significant federal and statewide events and initiatives, according to Fort Worth’s City Hall lighting policy.
Last June, city staff had begun migrating into the new City Hall building, but the technology wasn’t yet ready to implement Pride Month lighting, Beck said. Now that it’s complete — with a $226.5 million price tag — Beck wants to make the rooftop rainbow lighting an annual tradition.
The lighting changed at sunset, as Trinity Pride attendees enjoyed performances from musical artists and drag queens, plus a market of local vendors just south of downtown on South Main Street. The festival is Fort Worth’s largest Pride event, held annually in June to celebrate the LGBTQ community.
Trinity Pride board president Roger Calderon, who was in on Beck’s secret, told the Report he was excited and grateful for the council member’s plan. He said the lighting is a “beautiful culmination of a month that began with a Pride proclamation at City Hall.”
Earlier in June, Mayor Mattie Parker presented LGBTQ community leaders, including Calderon, with a recognition declaring “Y’all means all” to celebrate Pride Month in Fort Worth. Beck said she’s proud the mayor publicly supported LGBTQ residents, which she believes was “the right thing to do for our city.” The rainbow lighting adds more visibility to Pride in Fort Worth, she said.
“City Hall being lit up for Pride sends a message to our community that your leaders support the LGBTQ community in Fort Worth, and that we celebrate the spirit of Pride Month, which is about more than just celebrating the fact that we have gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (residents), but (that) we are recognizing differences in our community and celebrating that that creates a rich fabric for our community,” Beck said.
Fort Worth City Council member Elizabeth Beck speaks during a preview of Trinity Metro’s Blue Line on June 4, 2025, at Sundance Square. (Mary Abby Goss | Fort Worth Report)
Calderon believes that visibility is important, particularly when it comes from a longtime champion of the LGBTQ community like Beck.
“Council member Beck’s steadfast support for our community is well documented,” Calderon said in a statement. “Through gestures both big and small, she has consistently demonstrated her commitment to the LGBTQ community.”
As attacks on the LGBTQ community increase both locally and across the country, Beck said, the nation’s 11th-largest city must stand by its LGBTQ residents. She said there have been “attacks on all levels” against the LGBTQ community, specifically noting the state Legislature, where lawmakers debated more than 100 bills aimed at LGBTQ Texans, and federal efforts to crack down on LGBTQ rights.
Fort Worth has also had missteps in its treatment of the LGBTQ community, Beck said. She believes city leadership, including her colleagues on council, must take action to rebuild trust and mend damaged relationships with LGBTQ residents.
But for now, she hopes her small surprise sparked joy — and marked a step in the right direction.
Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org.
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