The City of Austin hosted its own LGBT parade featuring drag queens—and multiple taxpayer-funded participants.
Taxpayer-funded institutions in attendance at the parade included the Austin Police Department, Austin EMS, and the Austin Fire Department. Notable sponsors of the event were University of Texas’ Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, Kroger, and Austin Community College District.
APD officers were among the first group to walk the parade, where many officers were seen wearing rainbow bracelets. Following them was an APD cop car decked out in rainbow designs with their car reading, “LGBTQ+ Officers and Allies Supporting and Protecting You.”
Following APD was the Austin Fire Department, which brought one of its fire trucks with multiple female employees sitting at the top holding a sign reading, “I’m not a firefighter, but my wife is.” Alongside the group of women was a little boy looking out into the crowd of supporters. Inside the truck were two employees throwing rainbow beads and waving rainbow flags.
As previously reported by Texas Scorecard, Austin Independent School District bused students from the district to the parade. However, instead of only bringing students to watch the parade, many of their students actively participated.
AISD brought one of their bands to the parade with students holding a rainbow banner reading, “Safe. Supportive. Inclusive.” Students behind the banner were seen waving rainbow flags, while a whole band behind them was playing music in celebration.
Adjacent to the parade was the “Let Women Speak” event, which was promoted as a forum for women to discuss how the issues of LGBT issues and gender ideology have damaged womanhood.
Gabrielle Clark, one speaker from the event, says the LGBT parade is seducing innocent children to follow its damaging ideologies:
“Pride is so glamorous and vibrant. It’s easy to see how people can get wrapped up in the excitement. But from where I stand, it looked more like our children being stolen by the Pied Piper as a ransom for some debt we owe,” said Clark. “Our country better wake up to the reality of the consequences to follow. Our children are being seduced into a world of addiction, nihilism, and medicalization. We’re all witnessing frivolity before the downfall of a civilization.”
