First Christian Church Katy
Katy Satisfaction organizers are relocating a number of occasions this week after the Texas Storm water park mentioned it could now not host the LGBTQ+ celebration, citing safety considerations.
The venue change comes after distinguished conservative leaders within the Houston-area suburb criticized the occasion on social media, with one Katy ISD trustee encouraging the general public to contact companies that have been concerned.
Katy Satisfaction president Amanda Rose mentioned the occasion organizers signed a contract with Storm Texas in April, however came upon Wednesday afternoon that the water park deliberate to cancel its involvement – a day earlier than the Satisfaction kickoff social gathering.
“There are some individuals on-line that have been posting misinformation and hate and inspiring individuals to name Storm Texas or present up at Storm Texas,” Rose mentioned.
Katy Satisfaction has obtained a refund from the water park. Satisfaction occasion organizers mentioned in a information launch one group had deliberate a “peaceable, lawful protest” however that no credible threats had been made in opposition to the water park.
A spokesperson for Storm Texas couldn’t instantly be reached for remark Thursday. The water park advised KHOU that individuals had made threatening remarks on cellphone calls and in individual, however added it didn’t report any of these threats to legislation enforcement.
Katy ISD board member Mary Ellen Cuzela criticized the occasion on Fb and former college board president Victor Perez accused the occasion of “sexualizing” youngsters. In response to the Houston Chronicle, Katy ISD trustee Morgan Calhoun additionally known as on members of the general public to stress the water park to cancel.
Cuzela, Calhoun and Perez supported a controversial gender-related coverage in Katy ISD that banned discussions of gender identification within the classroom and required academics to inform mother and father if their youngsters began utilizing pronouns that differ from their gender at beginning.
Perez advised Houston Public Media he had considerations about components of the Satisfaction occasion geared towards youngsters however wasn’t conscious of anybody making threats in opposition to the water park.
“Completely different individuals locally simply have been upset by it and simply let their voices be heard,” he mentioned. “That is all that is all about.”
Cuzela and Calhoun couldn’t instantly be reached for remark.
Katy Satisfaction has moved its kickoff social gathering to First Christian Church Katy on Morton Ranch Highway. The occasion begins at 6:30 p.m. Thursday and tickets price $25.
The group’s celebration on Saturday will now be held from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. at Harris County Precinct 4’s Rodeo Area in Bear Creek Pioneers Park. on Freeway 6 in Houston. Admission is free.
Harris County Commissioner Lesley Briones and the Better Houston LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce helped organizers safe a brand new location.
“Satisfaction is important in each neighborhood — particularly now, when the rights of LGBTQIA+ Texans are more and more beneath assault,” Briones mentioned in a information launch. “Once we discovered concerning the last-minute venue cancellation of Katy Satisfaction, my group and I went to work to discover a new dwelling for the occasion. I’ll all the time advocate for equality, and I’ll all the time stand with Harris County’s LGBTQIA+ neighborhood!”
Rose mentioned whereas some members of the neighborhood have unfold “misinformation,” Satisfaction is a time for celebration.
“It is a time for love and pleasure and being your genuine self,” they mentioned. “There’s a lot misinformation as a result of individuals simply wish to imagine what they wish to imagine, as a substitute of truly taking the time to study.”
