PRIDE PROCLAMATION
Annual Pride Day events will go forward as planned
Supporters and critics alike packed City Hall Thursday to voice strong opinions after Mayor Dwayne Ariola broke tradition with previous City Councils and rejected an application to recognize June as Pride Month in Taylor.
“The City Council is a nonpartisan body, and it is my strong belief that we should remain focused on representing all residents, without stepping into issues that are clearly divisive along partisan lines,” Ariola posted the day before on Facebook, in response to a public outcry over his decision.
Although there is no proclamation issued, Taylor Pride did receive a permit for its annual family-friendly art and music Pride festival at Heritage Square Park, 400 N. Main St., 4-10 p.m. June 28.
Because it was not an agenda item, council members took no action as audience members aired their views during the citizens-tobe- heard portion of the June 12 meeting.
“The recent uproar — on both sides — regarding this proclamation request makes it clear that this has become a partisan issue, and as such, I do not believe it would be appropriate for a nonpartisan council,” Ariola’s post added.
In Taylor, only the mayor has the authority to approve or reject proclamation applications.
Former Mayor Brandt Rydell in 2021 issued the first proclamation honoring Pride Day, starting the tradition.
A Change.org petition urging Ariola to change his mind garnered more than 1,600 signatures by June 12, and Denise Rodgers of Taylor Pride said she verified that more than 1,000 of those signatures originated in the Taylor ZIP code.
“We just wrapped up the Texas legislative season where our community had to fight more than 100 harmful anti-LGBTQ bills, and we, the Taylor Pride board personally, just wasted hours away from festival planning and our personal lives to do nine media interviews discussing how discriminatory the mayor’s decision was and how it is affecting our local citizens,” she said.
Rodgers added, “I’m tired of having to stand in front of a group of adults and ask them to be decent humans, and to ask them as civil servants to put their personal beliefs and biases aside.”
Jose Orta, a member of Taylor Pride and the resident who authored and submitted the Pride proclamation application, was one of many speakers who took issue with Ariola’s classification of the Pride movement as a partisan issue.
“Pride is a celebration of the LGBTQ fight for human and civil rights. It is no more political than Black History Month, Women’s History Month … Acknowledgement of our members of your community should never be a partisan issue, but mayor, you have made it one,” Orta said.
The speakers took up about an hour of the meeting. The majority asked the mayor to reconsider and approve the proclamation, though a few supported Ariola’s decision.
Many of the speakers became impassioned, and there were often shouts or comments from the back of the chamber.
A disruption between two factions after the public-comment session had Ariola calling for a 10-minute recess so Taylor police could clear out the gallery.
Highlights from speakers included:
• “You have tarnished your legacy as a mayor. You (other council members) have tarnished your legacies because you voted him as a mayor. And you have tarnished our city’s legacy because he is the mayor.” – Jay Ward
• “Falsely claiming this is a partisan issue is a moral failing and a dishonor to your queer constituents.” – Emilio Garcia
• “I’d love nothing more than to see Taylor’s veteran community and Taylor’s Pride community running side by side together and leaving no one behind.” – Leon Ching, Marine Corps veteran
• “I’m here to thank you for making the tough decisions, the decisions that not always go with what people call popular or progressive. I’m here to say thank you for listening to the citizen majority that voted for you to represent us in the age of growth and change in Taylor.” – Ernest Ariola Jr.
COUNCIL MEETING
In other business June 12, the City Council:
• Directed city staff to apply for a grant to fund either a Main Street sidewalk program or medians on Second Street through the Texas Department of Transportation fiscal year 2025 Safe Streets and Roads for All grants.
• Approved Fire Chief Daniel Baum to apply for a Fiscal Year 2024 Staffing and Adequate Fire and Emergency Response, or SAFER, grant program through the Department of Homeland Security. The grant would provide three years of funding assistance and allow the hiring of more firefighters to meet National Fire Protection Association standards for minimum staffing.
• Approved up to $13 million in debt to be issued for facilities projects for Fiscal Year 2025, including more than $4 million in renovations to Fire Station No. 2 and about $4.6 million for upgrades and required changes to the wastewater service.
• OK’d $4 million in park projects to be funded through 2024 bonds.
