AG Ken Paxton sues North Texas city, seeks to block ‘Big Gay Swim Day’
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Monday that he is suing the city of Denton over possible “gender neutral” bathrooms at a public swimming pool.
The lawsuit was sparked by “Big Gay Swim Day,” scheuled for June 7 at the city-owned Quakertown Civic Center, 321 E McKinney St. Two nonprofits, PRIDENTON and OUTreach, rented the venue, which is open to all ages. June is Pride Month, a celebration of the LGBTQ+ community and its contributions.
Paxton said the groups advertised “gender neutral bathrooms,” which are not allowed under Texas law. His lawsuit seeks to stop the event and requests that the city of Denton follow the law.
The Texas Women’s Privacy Act states that publicly owned “private spaces” must be designated based on biological sex. The law explicitly prohibits gender neutral changing rooms. The city said it had informed PRIDENTON and OUTreach that they must remove advertisements of gender neutral bathrooms. The groups said Monday they were told by the city on May 21 to remove the advertisements of “gender neutral” bathrooms and they complied immediately.
The city said it planned to reach out to the Attorney General’s Office and notify it that the city is compiling with the law.
Paxton said that cities cannot disregard Texas law, and allow grown men to change in the same space as women and children.
“The City of Denton had an opportunity to prevent this violation and chose to do nothing. That dereliction of duty will not stand, and I will ensure that Texas cities follow our state’s laws to protect women and children from men invading their spaces,” he said in a press release.
PRIDENTON and OUTreach say they are “disturbed and concerned” by the attorney general’s lawsuit.
“This frivolous lawsuit is a waste of taxpayers’ time and money,” they said in a statement.
They added that Big Gay Swim Day has been celebrating queer joy since 2022 and will not be silent in the “face of such hateful and inaccurate statements.”
“It is disappointing that bad actors have attempted to turn queer joy into political spectacle” they said.
Paxton won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in a runoff on Tuesday. He faces Democrat James Talarico in November.