Wealthy Texas suburb denies permit for church to hold a Pride event
City officials in Southlake, Texas, have denied a Pride festival a permit to hold an event scheduled for this October despite granting the same permit last year, according to local reports.
On Tuesday, the Southlake City Council voted to deny Pride Kel-So festival organizers a permit they are seeking for an October event, according to Fox 4.
Only two people spoke about the event during the city council meeting, with one person speaking in favor of the event and another speaking in opposition to the festival. None of the city councilors offered comment or asked the organizers any questions.
The council issued a unanimous vote against the permit. Now, the organizers are seeking an explanation.
"I am just in shock still," April Dreyson, one of the festival's co-founders, told the outlet. She said that the city council has not explained its vote despite approving the festival a year prior.
According to the festival's organizers, the inaugural Pride Kel-So festival was approved in 2025. It was held at St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church in Southlake. The name "Kel-So" is a combination of the words Keller and Southlake, referencing the fact that the church that hosted the festival sits on the border of the two cities.
They told Fox 4 that 2,500 people attended the event, which they described as family-friendly. The festival, which celebrates the LGBT community, featured live music and vendors.
"We followed all the recommendations and did not expect, especially with no comments, no questions. If they had concerns, they didn’t bring them up," Dreyson said.
In a Facebook post after the vote, Dreyson said the only explanation for the denial she could think of is discrimination.
“There is no explanation for the city council's vote other than pure discrimination against a group of people. Zero excuse," she wrote.
The individual who spoke in support of the event was the church's associate pastor, Reverend Ellen Singer.
"It’s clear there is conflict. It’s clear there is some sort of rupture in the community and actually the goal of something like this is to bring people together, to celebrate being a community with one another," she told Fox 4.
The church's leader, Reverend Alan Bentrup, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that he was out of town at the time of the council meeting, but that he supports the festival and wants to host it again this year.
“We’ve been clear from the beginning that we want to [host the Pride Kel-So event]. We are willing and eager to host whatever might be possible,” Bentrup said.
The opposing voice at the city council meeting said that the festival was "abhorrent" and drew protesters to the event.
Bentrup said he had been to numerous "contentious" city council meetings and noted that it was unusual that one dissenting voice would sway the council's vote.
“One person speaking against doesn’t usually fit that,” he said.
If the council does not reconsider, the festival organizers said it could downsize the festival and limit the number of guests to 1,000 people. Any gathering of 1,000 people or more requires a permit per the city's laws.
Dreyson told Fox 4 that she and the other festival organizers would "figure it out," and has been adamant on social media that the festival will happen in one form or another.
Pilar Schank, a spokesperson for the city, declined to comment on the matter and directed The Independent to a video of the September 15 city council meeting.
