The City of Dallas’ new budget is set to help facilitate LGBT parades and race-based events.
The Dallas City Council unanimously passed a $5.3 billion budget earlier this month. The Dallas Express reports that in the budget, the Office of Arts and Culture will boost “cultural equity” by supporting LGBT and race-based events in the city.
The budget states that goals for the Office of Arts and Culture include “Increase support for cultural equity through facilitating cultural celebrations throughout the year (e.g., Black History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, Indigenous People’s Month, Pride, Women’s History Month, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month).”
Senior Public Information Officer Ashley Guevara told The Dallas Express that the OAC is committed to hosting these cultural events.
“The Office of Arts and Culture (OAC) mission is to support and grow a sustainable cultural ecosystem that ensures all residents and visitors have opportunities to experience arts and culture throughout the city,” she said.
“The work of the OAC is also guided by the Cultural Equity Statement and Priorities (Equity, Diversity, Space, Support for Artists, Sustainable Arts Ecosystem, and Communication) as outlined in the Dallas Cultural Plan that was unanimously adopted by Dallas City Council in November 2018,” added Guevara.
In June, the City of Dallas hosted its own all-ages LGBT event, which featured drag queens, “trans services,” and sexually explicit merchandise for sale at booths in front of minors.
Dallas’ current fiscal year 2024-2025 budget cut the Office of Equity and Inclusion’s funds by more than a quarter; however, the city continued emphasizing its work towards equity.
“Budgeting for Equity” is a program created by the city to aid “departments in integrating equity into their budget decision-making processes by asking them to analyze demographic data and identify potential disparities in operations or service provisions based on race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status.”
Its goal is to increase the percentage of cultural services for historically disadvantaged artists and organizations to 37 percent in the city. It was previously set at 34 percent.
The new budget will give the OAC $20.6 million, which will be directed towards cultural venues it operates, including Moody Performance Hall, Bath House Cultural Center, Latino Cultural Center, and South Dallas Cultural Center.
Executive Director of Texas Family Project, Kaden Lopez, told Texas Scorecard that the City of Dallas should use the money to fix other issues pertinent to city management rather than diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
“No tax dollars should be going to fund any DEI initiatives. Texans don’t work hard to earn a living and pay their taxes for them to be wasted on projects for the LGBTQ movement,” said Lopez. “The city of Dallas has many issues that $2.6 million would easily fix, but instead, they decided to cave to DEI.”
