StevenCraigLindsey@GMail.com<\/a><\/p>\n
On Dec. 12, 2025, Arlington Pride organizers and the event\u2019s sponsor, the HELP Center for LGBTQ+ Health & Wellness, announced that this year\u2019s annual Arlington Pride event would be canceled. They made the decision after the Arlington City Council voted 5-4 against reinstating LGBTQ+ anti-discrimination protections.<\/p>\n
Though the loss of Arlington Pride deals a major blow to the city\u2019s queer citizens and allies, the HELP Center has shifted its resources 15 miles to the west.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe HELP Center has actually stepped up as a presenting sponsor this year,\u201d said Roger Calderon, president of Trinity Pride Fort Worth, noting that the organization has been a sponsor ever since Trinity Pride\u2019s inception in 2019.<\/p>\n
Arlington Pride was known for its big-name performers, including drag stars from RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race and well-known musical acts. Now that Trinity Pride is taking the reins to become the largest Pride event in Tarrant County, Calderon wants to build slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy initial plan for Trinity Pride is to really kind of solidify it as a community event, using local talent first. I took over as president two years ago, so my plan is really to get a good foundation first, before we move to bigger acts,\u201d he said. \u201cIn 2024, we had David Archuleta, who was our headliner. But after the election, a lot of corporate support went away.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Calederon said that even a lot of community support went away, at least in part, out of fear of DEI retaliation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hope is that continued support and even more community involvement will allow us to expand the festival, and I hope to get us to a point again where we can have the David Archuletas again,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026..<\/p>\n
Festival Schedule<\/strong> It\u2019s also a conscious decision to differentiate Trinity Pride Fest from Arlington Pride a bit by refocusing on North Texas entertainers, which this year includes Turtle Creek Chorale, the HomoPhones and a pop-up drag showcase with a new performer every 30 minutes.<\/p>\n After a successful move last year from Magnolia Green Park to South Main Street, this year\u2019s evening festival will once again take place both outside, along more than three-and-a-half blocks closed to traffic, and inside local LGBTQ+ businesses in the area.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s all about finding very cool, fun, interesting ways to be able to use the street as a way to pro-vide entertainment and use the infrastructure,\u201d Calderon said. \u201cI like to call it kind of Gay Main Street USA. I grew up going to Disneyland, and I loved Main Street USA, because something was always happening. That\u2019s kind of what I want this to feel like \u2014 like something\u2019s always happening in many different spaces at once.\u201d<\/p>\n Trinity Pride Fest will be the last major event in North Texas to wrap up Pride Month, and Calderon encourages people from all over DFW to come out to support this growing celebration.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to realize how fortunate we are in Dallas-Fort Worth that we have these opportunities to be able to go support each other and in our various communities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cEspecially here in Texas, with everything that is happening here, all the systematic erosion of our rights, the fact that people are in their communities creating these events for visibility \u2014 we should all be supporting each other.\u201d<\/p>\n After living in New York City for 19 years and attending the massive Pride parade and events there, Calderon believes there\u2019s a place for smaller events.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can metaphorically wrap your arms around Pride, you can actually feel the energy and excitement, because people are proud that this is happening in their own backyard. When and if Arlington Pride will return remains unknown, but Calderon, his team, and sponsors all hope to use this momentum to grow Trinity Pride Fest in the years to come.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to reiterate \u2014 because it was such a big deal when Arlington canceled \u2014 that even in the best of times, running a Pride organization in Texas is not easy. We\u2019re just living in a different time now. I think we had a great honeymoon phase, and we just have to be more cognizant and more aware of what\u2019s happening around us, and I know that Pride is just the most beautiful aspect of our community,\u201d he says. \u201cPride is the most visible, but the stuff that happens throughout the rest of the year also needs to be important.\u201d <\/p>\n Trinity Pride Fest takes place Saturday, June 27, from 6-11 p.m. on South Main Street. in Fort Worth. Because the event spans several blocks and the streets will be closed, enter \u201cThe Bearded Lady\u201d in your GPS app to reach the general area. TrinityPrideFW.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Trinity Pride Fest, happening Saturday evening, June 27 on South Main Street in Fort Worth,is Tarrant County\u2019s largest…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":894660,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5138],"tags":[5229,362602,200633,7371,7372,345907,362603,362604,358,362605,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-894659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-america","tag-arlington-pride","tag-featured-this-week","tag-fort-worth","tag-fortworth","tag-pride-2026","tag-pride-events-2026","tag-tarrant-county-pride","tag-texas","tag-texas-pride","tag-tx","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116817746626288913","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=894659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894659\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/894660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=894659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=894659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=894659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
6:15 p.m.<\/strong>
Pride Comes to South Main Opening March, featuring local nonprofits groups and organizations with a finale by the Dallas Pride Colorguard
6:45 p.m.<\/strong>
Welcome Remarks at the South Main Stage by Roger Calderon and Fort Worth City Councilwoman Elizabeth Beck (District 9)
South Main Stage<\/strong>
Presented by HELP Center for LGBTQ+ Health
7 p.m.: Turtle Creek Chorale
8 p.m.: The HomoPhones (from The Oak Lawn Band)
9 p.m.: August Edwards, JT Davenport
and Daniel Deon Scott Skyy
10 p.m.: DJ Amy H. Graves
The Bearded Lady Stage<\/strong>
Presented by RS Americas
6 p.m.: DJ Slut Punk
7:30 p.m.: Heavy Petal
9 p.m.: Hen and the Cocks
HopFusion Ale Works Stage<\/strong>
7:30 p.m.: Funky Town Follies featuring Caspian St. Clair, Cecil B. D\u2019Ville Esq.,
Cris Darkhorse, Foster Chaos, Jester Tepes and Moan Jett
9 p.m.: Argentina vs Jordan
10:30 p.m.: Band TBD
South Main District Salon<\/strong>
7-11 p.m.: Aubrey\u2019s Tacos and Tortas presents Club Reflections and Jackie O\u2019s Drag Pop-Up featuring Angelique D. Rodriguez, Chrissy Flor, Alexx Mikyles Jackson, Divinity Deluxe, Sasha Slays, Aundra Mikyles
(Continuous performances; new show every 30 minutes)
Family Area at Gallery 440<\/strong>
Presented by Michaels
6:30 p.m., 7 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 8 p.m.:
Community Story Time
8:30 p.m.: Rainbow Glow Party
Amphibian Stage and South Barber Shop<\/strong>
Explore Q Cinema: 30 Years of Fun in the Dark, a pop-up exhibit presented by YesterQueer at Amphibian Stage and enjoy screenings of Q Cinema favorites at South Barber Shop.
Q Cinema, Fort Worth\u2019s LGBTQ+ Film Festival, returns this fall, Nov. 13-15, at Amphibian Stage.
\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cVisibility is important, and being able to have these intimate Prides is good for people.\u201d<\/p>\n