‘Come together and celebrate’: Bastrop to host first Pride festival this weekend
When Brett Douglas first moved to Bastrop, he noticed there wasn’t much of a LQBTQ+ community presence. Now, six months later, he’s excited to host Bastrop’s first Pride festival this weekend and give children something he never had — a safe space to learn about their identity.
Douglas, 43, the chair of Bastrop Pride, is helping organize the city’s first annual Pride in the Park on Saturday from 3-7 p.m. in Fisherman’s Park. The festivities will include entertainers such as a stilt walker, juggler, hula hoop performer and balloon sculptor, a free picnic andt information about the LGBTQ+ community. Veterans for Equality will provide “non-confrontational security” at the event.
“We've had such strong support from other small towns in Central Texas. I really love that,” he said. “We kind of have a coalition of small-town pride organizations.”
Nicole DeGuzman, the vice chair of Bastrop Pride, agrees there’s a lack of LGBTQ representation in Bastrop. “We really felt like this was a place for our community to come together and to celebrate each other in a safe and inclusive environment,” she said.
However, DeGuzman said organizing the pride festivities didn’t come without challenges. She said they encountered hate online from a small portion of the town. One Instagram account with about 990 followers, bastropconservatives, encouraged their followers to call the Pine Forest Golf Club, where the group planned to host a drag show on Friday, and “tell them that Drag shows are not welcome in Bastrop.”
A representative from the account could not be reached for comment.
DeGuzman said the golf club decided on Tuesday to cancel the drag show after receiving backlash from the community and having eggs thrown at a club employee.
An employee of the golf club confirmed the event was canceled but couldn’t provide additional information.
“This is nothing new to our community,” DeGuzman said. “We’re a resilient group, but that’s not the way it should be.”
DeGuzman said they found a new venue for the sold-out show. It was scheduled to be held at Film Alley Bastrop on Friday from 7-9 p.m. but Film Alley pulled out with no explanation, Douglas said. The group has found a new location for the show but will not publicly announce the new venue until closer to the event to avoid any issues, he said.
The group is already discussing plans for next year’s pride festivities, she added.
“We've felt tremendous love from our community and support,” she said. “I'm most excited about connecting with others in Bastrop — both allies and those within my own community.”
Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect the change of venue for the Friday show.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Bastrop, Texas, to host first pride festival, LGBTQ celebration
