Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the city of Denton for hosting the “Big Gay Swim Day,” a private Pride month pool event scheduled for June 7 at the city’s Civic Center.
Paxton alleged that the event’s changing rooms will violate the Texas Women’s Privacy Act. The state law requires publicly-funded sex-segregated spaces — like locker rooms and restrooms — to restrict access to people based on the sex they were assigned at birth.
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Paxton’s lawsuit targets Denton Mayor Gerard Hudspeth and other city officials to prevent the event from happening and to stop any potential future violations of the law, The Texan reported.
Denton’s Interim Director of Marketing and Communications Kayla Herrod noted that the event is a “private rental and is not sponsored by the City,” that such private events commonly happen in the facility up to two hours after the center’s closing time, and that facility rules prevent renters from altering or changing any signs at the center.
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However, the event’s website said the center’s “gendered changing rooms will be converted for the duration of the event.” The organizers, the local LGBTQ+ groups PRIDENTON and OUTreach Denton, didn’t specify how this conversion would be handled.
The event website tells attendees not to bring “transphobia, homophobia, fatphobia, racism, [or] ableism,” and adds, “Body-shaming of any kind will not be tolerated and will result in removal from the party.”
In his lawsuit, Paxton’s office said, “Regrettably, the City of Denton has dropped the ball and rented a city pool to sponsors who plan to convert the City’s lawful, sex-separated changing rooms into unlawful ‘gender neutral changing rooms.’”
“Texas law forbids encouraging men to access spaces prudently reserved for women and girls and likewise preserves the privacy of male changing areas,” the lawsuit continued. “The people of Texas have made themselves clear: We will not abide men invading women’s spaces, or vice versa.”
Herrod told the aforementioned media outlet that the city had ensured, prior to Paxton’s lawsuit, that the event would fully comply with state law, “including informing the organizers that certain elements of their advertising conflicted with state law and advising them of the requirement to comply.”
In a joint statement posted to Instagram, OUTreach Denton and PRIDENTON called Paxton’s lawsuit a “frivolous … waste of taxpayers’ time and money.” The groups said the city informed PRIDENTON on May 21 that the groups weren’t permitted to have all-gender bathrooms.
“We removed this language from all posts and advertisements about this year’s event in compliance with these expectations,” the groups wrote. The group also said the law Paxton sued under “gives license to harass and surveil any person who does not present or conform within the narrow limitations of an oppressive gender binary.”
“It is disappointing that bad actors have attempted to turn queer joy into a political spectacle,” the groups added. “We will not allow these attacks to spread fear, isolation, or shame…. We look forward to celebrating and affirming Texans of all gender identities.”
“Happy Pride.”
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