We made it to Texas Latino Gay Pride.
The festival was held at Reverchon Park, which is at the edge of the gayborhood. There was lots of food, liquor, and some salsa dancing.
Mexican tchotchkes being sold at Texas Latino Gay Pride.
Mexican wrestler masks for sale at Texas Latino Gay Pride.
The Kaliente booth at the festival. Kaliente is a Hispanic gay bar outside of the gayborhood.
A photographer from The Dallas Morning News taking a picture of a festival attendee.
It was an emotionally exhausting morning.
We started the day at our first Dallas Bears meeting. (This is the same group that throws Texas Bear Roundup.)
It was a special meeting because the group decided on their beneficiaries for the upcoming year. Most of the eligible charities gave presentations, which means we sat through two hours of horror stories about HIV, homelessness, and extreme poverty. Cue Sarah McLachlan.
All of the organizations that gave presentations were worthy causes, and I really don’t understand how people chose one group over another.
One surprising presentation was by the Sharon St. Cyr Fund, a Dallas charity that provides hearing aids and sign language interpreters to low-income individuals. Apparently hearing aids run up to $7,000 and aren’t typically covered by insurance. Who knew?
It was also interesting to see how differently the charities operated. Some received millions from the federal government and corporate sponsors. Others relied solely on private contributions. Some had tons of paid staff members, whereas others were volunteer-only organizations.
I’m not sure how big of a role any of this played in the voting.
After the end of that meeting, we were emotionally exhausted and hungry, so Texas Latino Gay Pride was an excellent follow-up event.
Tequila, margaritas, and vodka drinks were for sale at the festival.
People mill around the main stage of the festival.
Vendor tents at Texas Latino Gay Pride in Oak Lawn, Dallas.
The main stage at Texas Latino Gay Pride in Oak Lawn.
Sightings at the Festival
We ran into a lot of neighbors at the festival, and even got to speak to Lupe Valdez, the Dallas County Sheriff. Valdez dropped by The Dallas Morning News for an interview recently, and her girlfriend surprised her with a new car outside of the building.
City councilman Adam Medrano also spoke at the event. Medrano represents half of the gayborhood because of some gerrymandering nonsense we have going on in Dallas.
Dallas City Council District Map
Medrano represents the traditionally poorer, more racially diverse areas surrounding downtown Dallas. The core of downtown and the wealthier nearby neighborhoods are in District 14.
The district line is right on Cedar Springs Road, which means that the iLume Building is in District 2 whereas iLume Park is in District 14.
We see Medrano frequently – he shows up to almost any gay event that will have him. He’s also part of the city’s LGBT task force.
In addition to speakers, there was a dance troop performance at the festival and a great cover band. The event started slow and picked up throughout the afternoon.
Texas Latino Gay Pride is definitely one of the smallest gay pride festivals in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, but there were actually more things to do at Texas Latino Gay Pride than the Fort Worth Gay Pride Festival.
We’ll be back next year!
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