There is a question Harris County taxpayers should be asking this week: Why is a taxpayer-funded county facility being used to host an explicitly LGBTQ-themed event marketed to families and children—and why has Commissioner Lesley Briones made herself one of its most visible public champions?
This is not simply a question about a Pride festival.
It is a question about the role of government, the stewardship of public property, and whether elected officials should use taxpayer-supported facilities to facilitate events containing radical gender ideology themes that many parents believe is inappropriate for children.
A year ago, Katy Pride’s celebration was nearly canceled after its original venue withdrew from hosting the event. Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones stepped in and saved the day, and as a resident in her precinct, I was disgusted.
Briones did not merely remain neutral. Her own office announced that she and her team would “proudly host” the event at Harris County Precinct 4’s Bear Creek Rodeo Arena. Her office coordinated permitting, logistics, and security, and Briones publicly declared that she would “always advocate for equality” and “stand with Harris County’s LGBTQIA+ community.”
Now, one year later, Katy Pride is returning to that same county facility.
The October 3, 2026 Katy Pride Celebration is scheduled for Bear Creek Rodeo Arena in Harris County’s Precinct 4. Katy Pride describes the event as its largest celebration of the year, and its current materials advertise an all-ages, family-friendly event with a kids zone. The event is free and is expected to draw thousands of people.
And that brings us to the central issue.
Why is this happening on public property?
Adults in America have broad constitutional freedoms to associate, speak, assemble, and participate in events with which they identify. That is not the question.
The question is what happens when government-funded public spaces are used for LGBTQ+ events marketed directly to children—and when the government official responsible for that facility becomes a public partner in facilitating them.
Katy Pride proudly calls this event “family-friendly” and “welcome to all ages.” They aren’t hiding the fact that children are part of the target audience: the 2026 event features a dedicated kids zone with its own corporate sponsor. And who’s sponsoring the kids zone? Home Run Dugout.
My husband and I used to enjoy visiting Home Run Dugout. We won’t be anymore. Businesses are free to support whatever causes they choose—but families are free to pay attention, ask questions, and decide where their money goes.
If you choose to put your name and money behind Pride programming marketed to children, be prepared for parents to take notice.
Elected officials deserve even greater scrutiny. Representative Jon Rosenthal was listed as a 2025 Silver Sponsor of Katy Pride and named an “Ally Grand Marshal.” His decision to publicly align himself with an event that markets Pride programming to children is deeply concerning—and should prompt parents to ask whether this is really the kind of leadership they expect from their elected representatives.
Public officials are entrusted with public resources. Harris County’s Commissioners Court recently approved a higher property tax rate, with local reports estimating the increase could add roughly $190 or more annually for some average homeowners, depending on their circumstances.
At the same time taxpayers are being asked to shoulder increasing costs, they have every right to ask how their public facilities are being used.
Why should a Harris County taxpayer, who is already struggling with higher property taxes and a cost of living crisis, be required to help facilitate a woke, sexually explicit event through a public facility?
This is why Protecting Texas Children is partnering with Texans for Fiscal Responsibility (TFR), an organization dedicated to protecting taxpayers from runaway government: to root out, expose, and stop exactly these kinds of taxpayer-funded agendas. TFR fights for responsible, taxpayer accountable government, lower tax burdens, and a government that responsibly stewards taxpayer money in a way that focuses on the core functions of government, not on LGBTQ+ ideologies that target kids.
Andrew McVeigh, president of TFR, commented saying, “Taxpayers should never be forced to fund the promotion of woke, LGBT ideologies. That is not the role of government and not the role of tax dollars. Taxpayers want lower taxes and a lean, disciplined government; not the indoctrination of their children with their own money.”
Adults are free to make their own choices. But children deserve something different: the freedom to grow up without being targeted by adult ideological and sexualized messages that blur the biological reality of male and female and confuse their developing understanding of identity, reality, and right and wrong.
That distinction deserves a public conversation.
