Supreme Court ruling, threats of revisiting gay marriage, ‘sodomy’ laws couldn’t hurt Trinity Pride
People who attended the Pride festival in Fort Worth on Saturday said the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and the suggestion by some justices that the court might revisit marriage equality next impacted the way they viewed and celebrated the festival, but didn’t change the mood from that of a celebration.
While some said the announcement of the high court’s decision put a damper on their enthusiasm, most told the Star-Telegram it made them more determined to be there and to celebrate LGBTQ+ equality and be a part of the display showing that the community in Fort Worth will not stand for attacks on their rights.
Thousands gathered at Magnolia Green Park for Trinity Pride Fest, where organizers brought together live music, drag performances, food, drinks and vendors for the celebration of Pride Month. The park was filled with Pride flags, including the traditional rainbow flag and flags representing bisexual, transgender, lesbian and asexual pride.
And while the mood at the event was one of celebration and joy, conversations could be overheard throughout the day of people expressing concerns about what the Supreme Court’s ruling on Roe v. Wade means not just for the future of access to abortions but also to the future of LGBTQ rights and access to contraceptives.
A concurring opinion by conservative Justice Clarence Thomas suggested he wanted the high court to revisit the rights to gay marriage and “sodomy” laws that made it illegal for two people of the same sex to have intercourse, even in the privacy of their own homes.
Texas still has a sodomy law on the books that is no longer enforced.
Kim Canales said she and her sister were both celebrating their first Pride month as openly bisexual women. The two sat at Canales’ booth, Multifarious Makings, where she was selling sculptures, paintings, jewelry and other artwork.
Canales said that she was happy to be at the event and excited to celebrate Pride fully this year, but the worries about women’s health and the possible fights over marriage equality in the future worried her.
“Anyone who has a uterus is going to be in danger now,” Canales said. “That just makes me want to be here more. It makes me feel like I need to be here more. It makes this day more, I guess, important to us.”
She said she’s also concerned about what the ruling means for the future of not only LGBTQ rights, but Pride events.
“I’m worried some redneck crazies are going to ruin it,” Canales said. “The people who came before us suffered so we could have these rights. Why would anybody today want to come after our love and happiness?”
Bobby Khounvivongsy, who said he was attending Trinity Pride Fest for the first time, said he was worried by the inclusion of Thomas’ opinion in which he said he would be open to reconsidering the Supreme Court’s rulings striking down “sodomy” bans and establishing a right to gay marriage.
“Because any substantive due process decision is ‘demonstrably erroneous,’” Thomas, one of the conservative justices on the high court, wrote, “we have a duty to ‘correct the error’ established in those precedents.”
But Khounvivongsy said he wasn’t going to let that ruin his first Fort Worth Pride event. He was focused on enjoying the music and performances and the atmosphere.
“We can’t let that bullying put us down,” he said.
Nicholas Williams and Clifford Price came to Trinity Pride Fest together. They said the ruling by the Supreme Court almost put a damper on things but in the end made them want to go out to the festival even more.
“It made me want to come out in force and say, ‘We should be done with this already,’“ Price said. “They want to ban everything. We need to say no. This fight is done. We’re done.”
Williams echoed him, adding that he believed the Bible told people to “mind their own business.”
“Look at what Paul wrote in First Thessalonians,” Williams said. “He tells us to all mind our own business. This isn’t mind your own business.”
Before going to the festival, Vivian Contreras and her wife, Stephanie Contreras, went to the Bans Off Our Bodies protest against the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
At Pride, they said, they were there to celebrate their marriage and their family, but were worried about the precedent set by the overturning of the landmark decision on abortions.
“Same sex marriage is next,” Vivian Contreras said. “We’ve been married since 2015. What does that mean for us, if they overturn the right for us to be married?”
Stephanie Contreras said the couple was at Pride to celebrate the fact that they can be themselves and that their marriage is recognized by the state, but that it’s hard to separate the Supreme Court decision from Pride, for them.
“We’re women,” Stephanie Contreras said. “We’re women. We’re married. Pride means everything for us. We’re here to be loud, be present and to show we’re not going anywhere.”
All of the people who spoke to the Star-Telegram said they hope the decision by the Supreme Court will lead more people to protest and to vote.
“It doesn’t mean anything if you don’t vote,” Vivian Contreras said. “You can protest all you want, but if you’re not active when it’s really needed, it doesn’t matter.”
This story was originally published June 26, 2022 at 5:00 AM.