{"id":270340,"date":"2025-10-01T22:53:20","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T22:53:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/270340\/"},"modified":"2025-10-01T22:53:20","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T22:53:20","slug":"couple-launches-lgbtq-pride-event-in-keller-southlake-amid-republican-pushback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/270340\/","title":{"rendered":"Couple launches LGBTQ Pride event in Keller, Southlake amid Republican pushback"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a Keller couple prepares to launch a first-of-its-kind Pride festival in their hometown, the LGBTQ event planners face pushback as Republican officials across the county call for its cancellation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

April and Shaina Dreyson are launching the inaugural Pride Kel-So festival at St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church on Oct. 4. They describe the event as family friendly and say it will feature more than 100 North Texas vendors, live performances, drag performers, and kid and teen areas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Critics assert that the LGBTQ event is inappropriate and should not be in the public eye, but the couple argues it\u2019s needed now more than ever in the northeast corner of America\u2019s largest urban red county. The event will be located at the border of Keller and Southlake, cities with predominantly Republican voters who overwhelmingly supported President Donald Trump\u2019s reelection in 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis event is the toughest fight yet, but the most fulfilling that we\u2019ve ever had,\u201d Shaina said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a statement to the Fort Worth Report that he later shared on social media, Keller Mayor Armin Mizani asserted the event\u2019s agenda is \u201caimed at exposing children to inappropriate, highly sexualized content.\u201d Mizani, a Republican, is campaigning for election to Texas House District 98, which spans a portion of northeast Tarrant County including Keller and Southlake.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

I\u2019m aware of the \u201cPride Kel-So\u201d event at St. Martin\u2019s Episcopal Church \u2014 physically located in Southlake but with a Keller mailing address. Let me be clear: the City of Keller is not involved and does not condone this event.<\/p>\n

Though promoted as \u201cfamily-friendly,\u201d the event\u2019s\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Mayor Armin Mizani (@ArminMizaniTX) September 29, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cLet me be clear: the city of Keller is not involved and does not condone this event,\u201d Mizani said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Southlake Mayor Shawn McCaskill did not answer requests for comment. On Sept. 29, McCaskill, a Republican, responded to several X posts<\/a> about Pride Kel-So with the message, \u201cThis event is not a city of Southlake event. The Southlake Police Department is aware of this event, which is being held on private property at that church.\u201d In another post, he wrote that the event has received no support from the city of Southlake or its City Council.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pride Kel-So finds private church for event<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"April and Shaina Dreyson hold hands with wedding bands on their ring fingers in Southlake Sept. 23, 2025. (David Moreno | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n

The Dreysons, who own an event planning company<\/a>, said they felt inspired to start Pride Kel-So to show that Keller and Southlake are shifting in their support. April, 38, and Shaina, 32, wanted youth and families to see LGBTQ representation in Keller, an opportunity they never got as children growing up scared to come out as lesbian.<\/p>\n

The couple was concerned initially about where to host the festival, knowing they were unlikely to get permission to use a city-owned facility in either city. The perfect venue appeared when they met the Rev. Alan Bentrup of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The LGBTQ-affirming church will host the event on 13 acres of private land.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church is at 223 S. Pearson Lane in Southlake. The church\u2019s mission is to be inclusive of all people, regardless of sexual identity or orientation, according to its website. (David Moreno | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n

Bentrup said his church and clergy \u201ctake a ministry of hospitality very seriously,\u201d so it was a no-brainer to host Pride Kel-So on church land. He said St. Martin regularly hosts events for groups that don\u2019t attend the church, including a local youth soccer program, homeowners associations, Alcoholics Anonymous groups and Boy Scouts chapters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t just do stuff in this building and on this property on Sunday mornings,\u201d Bentrup said. \u201cWe want the community to know this is a place for them, and so this is an extension of that \u2014 obviously more controversial than a soccer team, but that doesn\u2019t matter to us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bentrup knows not all Christians will support his involvement in the event. But as a pastor, he feels called to stand up for a community that hasn\u2019t always been welcomed in Christian churches. To him, it\u2019s not a political stand.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re making is a theological statement that God\u2019s love is bigger and wider and deeper and crazier and more expansive than anything we could ever imagine,\u201d Bentrup said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For the Dreysons, religious support for their event has been an \u201cever-evolving\u201d process as both struggle with what they describe as \u201creligious trauma\u201d from their childhoods. Both are grateful for St. Martin\u2019s and other churches\u2019 support in helping some LGBTQ people<\/a> heal from past experiences.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When they announced Pride Kel-So at the beginning of April, the Dreysons said they received hundreds of messages from local parents and members of the LBGTQ community expressing gratitude for the event.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pride Kel-So has privately fundraised over $100,000 through corporate donations and community support, with major donors including Charles Schwab and Help Center for LGBTQ+ Health, according to event organizers.<\/p>\n

Roger Calderon is the president of Trinity Pride Fest, the largest privately organized LGBTQ festival in Fort Worth, held annually in the Near Southside<\/a>. He said he\u2019s thrilled to see a new Pride event held in North Texas, particularly for the Keller and Southlake communities, and he looks forward to celebrating what he believes will be the start of a \u201cbeautiful tradition.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should take every opportunity to honor our stories, our resilience and our joy,\u201d Calderon said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\"\"A digital billboard promoting Pride Kel-So shines on a large LED screen outside of a Sam\u2019s Club in Keller on Sept. 23, 2025. (David Moreno | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n

Couple faces conservative pushback over programming<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the months leading up to October, April and Shaina faced pockets of opposition and criticism on social media. In the last week of September, the event garnered renewed attention as Republican officials across the county aired concerns and allegations online.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mizani argued that Pride Kel-So violates Senate Bill 12, a 2023 law that bans sexually oriented drag shows and other performances in front of children, and penalizes performers as well as any businesses that host such shows. A federal court ruled the law was unconstitutional<\/a> and issued a temporary injunction in 2023, preventing government officials from enforcing it until an appeals court issues a final ruling. That decision is still pending.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When asked how Pride Kel-So potentially violates the law, Mizani sent a flyer of the event\u2019s schedule along with links to two songs by Madame Lexical, a drag queen who was scheduled to perform at the festival. The performer was removed from the event\u2019s lineup Sept. 29.<\/p>\n

April said Madame Lexical was removed to \u201cshield her from the onslaught of misguided hate,\u201d but that event organizers stand in solidarity with the performer. The Dreysons instructed all other performers to keep their acts family-friendly by excluding sexual dance moves or song lyrics \u2014 \u201cThink Disney, and what Disney would allow,\u201d April added.<\/p>\n

Tarrant County GOP chairman Bo French, who has posted repeatedly on X that he believes transgender people should be banned, authored a Sept. 26 X article<\/a> criticizing Madame Lexical and the lyrics of some of her songs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no place in civil society for this kind of violent degeneracy. Leftists, and specifically the mentally deranged \u201ctrans\u201d community, have declared war on the right,\u201d French wrote. \u201cIt is time all of our leaders, from the Trump administration down to the local level, put a stop to all of this immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"April and Shaina Dreyson discuss their proposed layout of Pride Kel-So during a walk-through on the Keller church\u2019s 13-acre property Sept. 26, 2025. (David Moreno | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n

For the safety of guests, organizers have ensured there will be \u201cextensive security operations\u201d in place for any situation that may arise.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Regardless of the backlash, April and Shaina said they\u2019re proud to launch the event, and they hope to see it help the two cities chart a path forward in accepting the LGBTQ community.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The two had previously considered moving out of Texas, but felt called to stay in the city they\u2019ve called home the majority of their lives. They\u2019ve seen several of their friends relocate to cities like New York but didn\u2019t want to abandon hope for their hometown.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomebody told me early on, \u2018If all of us moved, who would be there \u2014 to fix this?\u2019\u201d April said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Shaina added, \u201cEven though we\u2019re just a blip on the radar, doing something like this in this hyperconservative community is going to make a difference, and that\u2019s all we\u2019re trying to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

David Moreno is the arts and culture reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at david.moreno@fortworthreport.org<\/a> or @davidmreports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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