Pride carnival in Cedar Park to provide 'safe place' for LBGTQ+ community
There will be bounce houses and facepainting for children. And drag queens doing shows and participating in a panel about their lives. Also on hand will be security guards for the Community Carnival hosted by Cedar Park and Leander Pride groups at a church on Saturday.
The LBGTQ+ nonprofit groups want to make sure that anyone who comes to the event from noon to 5 p.m. at the Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Church, at 3315 El Salido Parkway in Cedar Park, feels safe and secure, the organizers said.
"We are letting people know there are safe spaces and safe groups and safe places you can go especially in this climate," said Virginia Shrader, the president of Cedar Park Pride.
Hundreds of people rallied on Monday outside the Capitol to protest against what they said were bills harmful to queer Texans. Equality Texas, the state's largest LGBTQ advocacy organization that led the advocacy day event, has identified 205 "anti-LGBTQ" bills proposed in Texas this year.
"There's a big push to marginalize this group of individuals," said Mike Eddelman, a board member of Leander Pride. Eddelman said he's not a member of the LGBTQ+ community but he has a lot of friends who are. "I think everybody deserves to be included and respected," he said.
More: Here's why hundreds of LGBTQ Texans rallied against anti-trans bills: 'We have to show up'
He said the Leander Pride group met after the November presidential election and decided to continue to be vocal and to be involved in the community instead of retreating in fear over what could happen. After President Donald Trump was elected, he banned transgender people from serving in the military, but a judge has blocked the ban.
The Texas A&M University System also banned drag shows but that ban was temporarily blocked Monday by a federal judge.
The Leander Pride group wants to let people who may be concerned, scared or hesitant know that "everything is not about somebody who doesn't like you or tells you that you can't be who you are," said Eddelman. "There are just as many of us that believe you do have a voice and you do have a community that cares about you."
More: Federal judge temporarily blocks Texas A&M University System's drag ban
The family-friendly carnival on Saturday is the second annual one that the pride groups have hosted together at the church. About 400 to 600 people attended last year's event, said Schrader.
The mayors of Cedar Park and Leander will be part of the welcoming ceremony at the celebration.
"Everyone deserves to feel like they are welcome in Cedar Park, no matter who they are or where they come from, Mayor Jim Penniman-Morin said in a text to the Statesman this week.
Leander Mayor Christine DeLisle also said in a text to the Statesman this week that the carnival is about "affirming that every individual in our community deserves respect, dignity and a sense of belonging."
"By supporting these events," she said, "we remind our LGBTQ+ friends and neighbors that they are seen, valued and appreciated."
It's important to have the carnival because it also provides a safe space for young people, said James Dean, the president of Leander Pride. "We are paying for security to be there to make sure the event is safe and secure," he said.
There have been two suicides in the LBGTQ+ local community in the past few years, including a student who was bullied at school, he said. A gay woman, 24-year-old Akira Ross, was shot and killed outside a Cedar Park gas station in 2023. Her father and her partner have said she was targeted because she was gay.
The carnival will provide a chance for participants to hear other people's stories, the organizers said. A lesbian teenager will talk about her experience attending schools in the Leander school district, and a transgender person will talk about surgery, Dean said.
Drag queens on a panel will discuss how participating in drag shows has impacted their lives onstage and off, and "the importance of self-expression in our community," said Shrader.
There will also be live music and food trucks.
"We are excited about this event," said Shrader. "We are providing a space where love is love and hate won't be welcome."
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Pride carnival in Cedar Park to provide 'safe place' to celebrate
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