Tarrant County Historical Commission gains 5 members after LGBTQ marker controversy
CORRECTION: Commissioner Alisa Simmons was quoted incorrectly in a previous version. The quote has been removed in this update.
The Commissioners Court appointed five new people to the Tarrant County Historical Commission on Tuesday, July 1, following the recent attention the volunteer group received.
Republican Commissioner Matt Krause appointed Tammy Nakamura, Anne Gebhart, Thomas Schlueter and Mona Puente to the Tarrant County Historical Commission.
The commission has 19 members, who serve two year terms with appointments made in odd-numbered years with no term limits. County historical commissions are authorized by the Texas Legislature for the purpose of initiating and conducting programs for the preservation of the historical heritage of the county, the website says.
In May, Nakamura lost her reelection bid to the Grapevine-Colleyville school board to Matt Foust. She was one of many candidates who did not win their race despite support and endorsements from the Tarrant County Republican Party and Patriot Mobile Action, the political organization associated with the Christian conservative wireless provider.
Gebhart and Puente are Tarrant County GOP Precinct chairs and Schlueter was a supporter of County Judge Tim O’Hare’s 2022 campaign.
Democratic Commissioner Alisa Simmons of Precinct 2 appointed Marisela Aramino to the county historical commission as well.
Aramino is responsible for public relations and voter outreach for Tarrant County Democratic Party and is listed as the House District 96 Deputy Coordinator for the party.
These appointments come after the application for a marker commemorating LGBTQ+ history in Fort Worth was rescinded due to a letter sent by County Judge Tim O’Hare to the Texas Historical Commission. His letter requested that the marker application’s initial approval be revoked due to established precedent being bypassed. A former Tarrant County Historical Commission Chair said the letter from O’Hare “was not truthful.”
The Tarrant County Commissioners Court was set to be briefed Tuesday on the historic marker that has caught state-wide attention due to the county judge’s intervention, but the speaker did not come up to the microphone.
At the meeting, Simmons expressed her outrage at O’Hare’s intervention, saying it was an abuse of power meant to erase LGBTQ+ history in Tarrant County.
O’Hare said he stands by his letter “100%” and that everything in the letter is self-explanatory and accurate.
“In addition, it shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise that I don’t think glorifying drag show performances is an appropriate thing. I don’t,” O’Hare said. “I won’t, now, tomorrow, next week or next month, if this goes through the historical committee and they vote to approve it, and it follows the proper process, and it goes through the same thing with Fort Worth. Then it can pass, and it can move forward.”
Todd Camp, who was involved in the application for the marker clarified that it would not have mentioned the Rainbow Lounge, nor “glorified drag shows.”
“Instead, the marker focuses on the deeper decades-long history of Fort Worth’s LGBTQ community and the significance of the South Jennings neighborhood, a space that has long served as a hub for community activism and cultural expression,” Camp said to the dais.
This story was originally published July 1, 2025 at 5:07 PM.