TAYLOR, Texas (KXAN) — Taylor, Texas, made history in 2021 when it held its first official LGBTQ Pride celebration. It was also the first Pride celebration for all of Williamson County.
This year marks the fifth annual Taylor Pride Music and Arts Festival, which is set for Saturday, June 28, at Heritage Square Park.
Just weeks ahead of Taylor Pride’s milestone event, organizers said Mayor Dwayne Ariola denied a request for an official Pride Month proclamation.
Taylor Pride posted about the denial on social media, saying that the mayor’s decision “undermines the progress we’ve made as a community and threatens to sideline the celebration that is integral to our town’s identity,” and that the denial “contradicts the inclusive values we hold dear, and the reality our residents continue to embrace and promote: diversity, acceptance, and love for all.”
The proclamation application was submitted by a Taylor resident and doesn’t have any relation to the festival, Taylor Pride Founder Denise Rodgers explained. “This is actually a direct denial to a constituent, to a, you know, citizen of Taylor, not to our organization,” she said.
Rodgers sent KXAN screenshots of the proclamation application, an email from the city clerk that the proclamation had been denied, and an email from Mayor Ariola explaining his decision to deny the proclamation request.
The city of Taylor also forwarded email correspondence between Ariola and the person who submitted the proclamation application, who asked questions about why the proclamation was denied, if there was an ability to appeal the mayor’s decision on the denial, if other observations would be approved for proclamations, and whether the city is “prepared for the negative press that this denial is going to bring.
The email from Ariola stated his reasoning for denying the application was that there are other “unifying observances” during the month, such as Juneteenth and the birthday of former Texas Gov. Dan Moody, who is a Taylor native.
“There’s a lot in June that reflects our shared values and history — and I believe we should continue to focus on these opportunities to come together as a community,” the email stated. It did not address the other questions from the applicant.
The city’s communications director noted via email on Tuesday afternoon that the city of Taylor’s Proclamation Policy “gives sole discretion over the issuance of proclamations to the Mayor.”
Mayor Ariola has “elected not to provide any additional comments,” per the communications director.
“It’s interesting that he would decline it,” Rodgers said. “There’s actually never been a denial of a proclamation in our city ever, except one, and that was from a hate group. So in the history of proclamations in Taylor, Texas, there’s never been a denial except for the one, and then us.”
Rodgers said it came as a surprise to the LGBTQ community in Taylor, too, because the city has been supportive of Pride-related events in the past.
“The city’s always been really fantastic with working in collaboration on our festival. You know, we work hand in hand with the parks department, the police department, the fire department, the fire marshal, the events coordinator. I mean, we work with everyone. We meet regularly. We’ve never had any issues whatsoever,” Rodgers said. “We’ve all kind of had the same goal of, you know, creating this really safe space to bring community together and, you know, and to celebrate. So it was quite a surprise to us to receive this denial, actually.”
Ariola was elected as mayor in May 2024. Ariola’s predecessor, Brandt Rydell, signed the last Pride Month proclamation for Taylor, which was issued during a city council meeting on May 9, 2024.
Taylor Pride said this is the first time since 2021 that a Pride proclamation has been denied.
The group created a Change.org petition online pushing for Ariola to reverse the denial. As of Tuesday afternoon, it has more than 1,300 signatures and several comments from community members who signed.
One of the comments read, “One thing I admired when first moving to Taylor years ago was how many pride flags were posted all around town, in people’s yards, and the genuine friendliness of the people here. Who really cares who loves who? Love is something to be celebrated, not hidden behind old, antiquated ways of thinking. Grow up and accept that others are different and embrace them with open arms like they have for you. Please keep Taylor’s pride. Don’t go backwards and be ugly and rude to an entire group of people.”
Rodgers said Taylor Pride started the petition with the goal of persuading a reversal of the mayor’s decision, but the group and other community members are planning to show up to the city’s next council meeting on June 12 if no response is given before then.
Not first time Taylor faced contention around LGBTQ+ inclusion
The city has faced contention surrounding LGBTQ+ inclusion in the past. In 2022, organizers of the annual Christmas parade — the Taylor Area Ministerial Alliance (TAMA) — added language to the parade application that some said excluded LGBTQ+ groups from participating.
Taylor Pride was one of the organizations that felt excluded by the parade requirements.
“It’s hard, it is hurtful and it’s just really not okay,” said Denise Rodgers, in a November 2022 interview with KXAN. “The LGBTQ community — we celebrate holidays; we practice religious faith; we have families and children. We are no different than the people who are hosting or attending these parades, these events and these holidays.”
Ultimately, the city of Taylor decided to host a second parade the same night, immediately following the TAMA parade. A week later, Taylor Pride said protesters showed up with hateful signs and stood outside its family movie night.
Rodgers said on Tuesday the only backlash she and other Taylor Pride organizers have received has come from “a very specific religious organization in town,” and that the city has never shown opposition.
“The only backlash that we’ve experienced in the past has not come from the city itself,” Rodgers said. “Quite the opposite; we’ve always received nothing but support with the city, we’ve always worked in collaboration with the city, not only city staff, but city leadership.”
Rodgers also noted within the past year, the city has “flipped almost every single seat in our city leadership.”
“Really and truly, we were just kind of expecting a wash, rinse, repeat, you know, of what we’ve done every year — with new entertainers of course,” Rodgers said.
Rodgers also noted the only other new obstacle they’re facing this year that they haven’t in the past is funding, because of widespread funding cuts and fewer grant opportunities for nonprofits, as well as fewer corporate sponsorships.
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