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SOUTH PADRE ISLAND — RGV PRIDE was in full swing Saturday for a celebration of the LGBTQ+ community over a two-day weekend event here at the Cameron County Amphitheater and Event Center.
The event commemorates a milestone for RGV PRIDE of 10 years of community and fellowship since it began in 2013 as PRIDE in the Park.
“This year we are celebrating our 10th anniversary of creating a safe and affirming inclusive and acceptive space for members of the Rio Grande Valley who identify as LGBTQIA+ individuals,” Steven Cano, community mobilization specialist at Valley AIDS Council, said.
Featuring an all-ages carnival, workshops, drag performances, musical guests, speed dating, a beach barbecue and more than 80 vendors and sponsor booths, the event offers something for everyone to celebrate and connect.
June is a month of celebration for the LGBTQ+ community in the U.S. But amid continuing legislation impacting trans people and drag performers, it’s also a charged period of visibility and protest.
The Pride movement was propelled by the 1969 Stonewall Riots, a series of demonstrations in New York City spurred by police violence against the LGBTQ+ community. The Library of Congress reports that on June 28, 1970, New York City held the inaugural Pride march to mark the first anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.
As part of that visibility and protest, the event featured a series of more than 20 regional and invited drag performers to share their talent with the crowd in a performance series “Drag Is Not A Crime” on Saturday. The lineup included Kerri Colby and Salina E. from RuPaul’s Drag Race.
“Politically during this time, we have seen a record number of bills, not only within Texas legislative session, but around the country in multiple states with bills that are targeting youths for gender-affirming care, for adults gender-affirming care, but then one of the biggest ones is drag queens,” Cano said.
This year the Texas Legislature has passed two bills — Senate Bill 14, which will ban hormone therapy and puberty blockers starting in September and Senate Bill 12, which criminalizes performers deemed to have put on sexually explicit shows in front of minors and the businesses that host them.
While the bill’s initial language specifically targeted drag shows, the bill now uses more general terms that still could target some adult-themed drag performances.
Cano says that these actions ignore that drag and other acts of visibility for the LGBTQ+ community are about expressing creativity and identity above all.
“So yeah drag is not a crime. Drag is an expression of individuality, of a community,” he said.
Attending the event, Gonzalo Delgado, 18, and Annika Palacios, 17, came to RGV PRIDE for the first time from Edinburg. Delgado says he saw flyers for the event and brought a group of friends to attend with him and enjoy the festivities.
“We were looking for community,” Delgado said.
Palacios came to the event as an ally and she says it has been a welcoming experience.
“I just thought it’d be a fun way to see this different community of people and everyone coming together at an event like this,” she said.
Despite the tumultuous present day in the state and nation for the LGBTQ+ community and their allies, Cano wants to stress the importance of community building and connecting people to resources.
“I want anyone who attends this event to know that the communities and organizations present are here day in and day out. These individuals are here 365 days, seven days a week for the community,” he said.
For more information, visit www.riograndevalleypride.org or their Facebook page at RGV PRIDE.
