Fort Worth LGBTQ+ community blasts Mayor Mattie Parker for removing Pride reading challenge

Roughly 40 members of Fort Worth’s LGBTQ+ community packed the city council chamber Tuesday calling on Mayor Mattie Parker to reinstate the Pride Badge as part of a city-sponsored reading challenge.

The badge had been included as part of the Mayor’s Summer Reading Program since 2020, but Parker pushed to remove the optional activity after it received push back from some residents.

The faith-based political advocacy group For Liberty and Justice put out a call on May 24 opposing inclusion of the badge saying it promoted an “anti-biblical agenda.”

A post on the group’s Instagram page included instructions how to call the mayor and urged followers to express their concerns.

In a statement written shortly after the removal, Parker said the decision was prompted by her belief that, “parents are the right ones to make decisions for the activities that their children are engaging in.”

Parker said her goal was to make all families feel included, keep the focus on reading, and not to make a political statement by including the challenge.

When pressed on how including activities highlighting LGBTQ+ Pride represented a political statement, Parker responded in an email, “asking parents to determine what age is appropriate to begin talking to children about sexuality is a deeply personal issue. Parents are the ultimate decision-makers for their own families on that, not the Mayor.”

The decision not to include the reading challenge ultimately became a political statement, said Jonah Murray, president of the Fort Worth trans-youth community center Finn’s Place, while speaking at Tuesday night’s public comment meeting.

It comes at a time when LGBTQ+ and transgender people’s rights are being attacked because of a political strategy with genocidal rhetoric, he said.

“I’ve seen directly the impact of anti-LGBTQ policies and actions coming from surrounding cities and ISDs and I don’t want Fort Worth to add to the problem.” Murray said. “I want us to be a shining example of respect, dignity and inclusion.”

Several speakers Tuesday night referenced news reports that Parker acted after received 30 email complaints, but in an email before the meeting Parker said she’d heard from many residents on both sides of the issue.

The Fort Worth Public Library received 11 complaints about the badge before it was taken down, spokesperson Theresa Davis said in an email to the Star-Telegram.

Davis said the library’s response to those emails emphasized the optional nature of the challenge, adding, “it is up to the discretion of the individual or parent which badges and activities they engage in on their own.”

Still Parker insisted either the badge be removed from the reading challenge or her title be removed from the challenge’s branding, according to a fact sheet shared by the Fort Worth Library.

Given the money already spent on advertising for the challenge, and the fact that the request came days before the June 1 launch date, the library opted to remove the badge rather than change the branding, according to the fact sheet.

An online petition opposing the badge’s removal has garnered over 2,000 signatures, said Amy Ramsey from the group Defense of Democracy. Ramsey contrasted this number with comparatively few emails the city received complaining about the challenge.

“The fact that one small angry group was able to sway our elected officials in this way is alarming,” said Fort Worth educator Melody Ellison, adding it shows that making Fort Worth’s LGBTQ+ community feel included is, “worth less than a few angry emails.”

Parker acknowledged Tuesday her decision to remove the Pride Badge caused hurt and confusion among members of Fort Worth’s LGBTQ+ community.

“I strongly believe that hate and bigotry has no place in Fort Worth, and I know right now that there are entire communities, many of you here today that you’re sharing your heart with me that you feel attacked and scared,” she said.

Parker defended her decision by pointing to activities included in the challenge targeted at babies and toddlers along with school-aged children and adults.

Examples of these activities include reading books including LGBTQ+ characters, finger painting the rainbow, and making a list of things and people your proud of, library spokesperson Davis said.

“Many of you may not agree with me, and that is okay, but I strongly believe that parents are the ultimate decision makers for their own families,” Parker said.

She received backing for that stance from Jason Baldwin, president of the Log Cabin Republicans of Fort Worth, a conservative LGBTQ+ group.

“This has nothing to do with Mayor’s stance on LGBT issues, but it IS about her discernment to question if this is an appropriate topic for kids as young as Pre-K. (It’s not.),” Baldwin wrote in a Facebook post Tuesday. He went on to emphasize low rates of literacy for 3rd graders in the Fort Worth school district, and argued the literacy issue should be the focus rather than inclusion of the Pride Badge.

District 9 council member Elizabeth Beck launched her own version of the Pride Badge Tuesday including all of the activities that were previously part of the Mayor’s Challenge.

“This initiative not only promotes a love for reading, but gives parents the opportunity to decide how they want to share inclusivity and acceptance within our community,” Beck wrote in a statement promoting the initiative.

Parker apologized for the hurt her decision to remove the badge caused and thanked the residents who spoke at the meeting Tuesday. She promised to discuss the issue further with members of the LGBTQ+ community in near future.