Texas City Holds Separate Christmas Parades for Christian Families, LGBT Community
A city in Texas held two separate Christmas parades after an LGBT group included a man dressed in drag at the 2021 Christmas parade.
According to The Christian Post, the city of Taylor, close to Austin, hosted separate parades this month after the Taylor Area Ministerial Alliance banned the LGBT group Taylor Pride from its annual Christmas Parade of Lights. The parades were both set for the same day.
“It looked like everyone had a great time. I’m glad we could give them that,” said Pastor Jeff Ripple with TAMA.
The separate parades were created this year after controversy at the 2021 parade. In 2021, Taylor Pride featured two men dressed as women as part of their float. The display reportedly offended some families, according to reports.
In November, TAMA released a statement saying it would not allow Taylor Pride to participate in the parade. TAMA says it believes in “traditional biblical and family values.”
The group “should never have been allowed to participate and put their promotion on display to families who had no warning about what was coming,” the statement added.
TAMA says it does not require a Christian or religious theme from its parade participants, but this year, the group says it would not allow participants that “explicitly contradict … what our entire organization is built on, the Word of God.”
“Up until very recently, the idea of gaudy and overtly sexualized [cross-dressers] being put on public display during a parade which celebrates the biblical event of Jesus Christ being born into this world to save sinners like all of us would understandably have been unthinkable,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, the 2022 Very Merry Holiday Celebration included Taylor Pride marching with rainbow flags in hand. The parade’s theme was “From Our Family to Yours.”
“On the applications, one of the requirements was traditional family values, and this is what traditional families look like,” said President of Taylor Pride Denis Rodgers.
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Svetlanais
Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and IBelieve.com. She blogs at The Migraine Runner.