The City of Pflugerville recently hosted a Pride event that kicked off with a “Trans Social Clothing Swap” at the Pflugerville Public Library.
Pflugerville advertised the event as being for “all gender/diverse expansive folks … regardless of your transition status or goals.”
The announcement encouraged attendees to wear their newly swapped outfits at the Saturday “Pride celebration.”
Pflugerville’s 2nd Annual Pride Festival was sponsored by several corporations—including Walmart, Amazon, CapitalOne, and DELL Technologies—as well as local brands like Tito’s Handmade Vodka.
While it claimed to be a family event, the festival hosted a drink vendor that sold drinks like “Horny Hibiscus” and “Berry Panty Dropper.”
Ick Stuff, a vendor that has previously sold at events like Austin Witches Market, also sold merchandise depicting topless, child-like cartoon characters with mermaid tails—a symbol of “gender transitioning.”
“These events advertise themselves as ‘family-friendly,’ though they are anything but,” said Brady Gray, a board member at Texas Family Project. “Children should never be exposed to this sort of content, and parents should be extremely alarmed by vendors displaying pornographic cartoon content. Beyond being inappropriate for children (or the public square), this raises serious concerns about safety.”
While the majority of Pflugerville Pride’s drag shows were held in their “Drag After Dark” section—which requires the purchase of a ticket and has a 21+ age requirement—the group’s entertainment scheduled featured two free drag shows with unspecified age requirements.
Senate Bill 12 by Bryan Hughes (R–Mineola) bans children from sexually oriented performances. However, SB 12 will not take effect until September 1, 2023, which leaves the next few months open for “all-age” drag shows to take place.
An increased use of age requirements for drag shows is likely to continue in anticipation of SB 12 taking effect.
