An attendee waves a heart-shaped pride fan in the air on June 14 during Arlington Pride 2025 at Levitt Pavilion.
File photo by Maricela Gonzales
Event organizers of Arlington Pride, the annual festival that drew thousands to the Levitt Pavilion in recent years, announced that this year’s event is canceled after four years of celebration.
The decision was made due to the Arlington City Council’s vote to lessen protections under the city’s antidiscrimination ordinance, according to the Arlington Pride website.
In February, the city passed an amended antidiscrimination chapter into the city code. The revised chapter gives the city less control over discriminatory issues than the previous chapter.
“When equality is challenged at the local level, we must prioritize the well-being of our community above celebration,” the website said.
The new chapter relies on federal legislation for protection and cites several Civil Rights Acts. It does not allow city officials to investigate acts of discrimination and instead provides residents facing discrimination with resources or redirects them to a state or federal agency.
During the Feb. 24 council meeting, DeeJay Johannessen, HELP Center for LGBTQ+ Health & Wellness CEO, said federal law should not be the basis of Arlington’s discrimination chapter.
Before the vote at the same meeting, Mayor Jim Ross, who was in favor of the new chapter, said while he wanted to reinstate the original chapter, there were not enough votes to do so.
The original chapter, which had allowed the city to investigate claims of discrimination based on race, religion or sexual orientation, among other categories, was originally suspended in September 2025.
Arlington’s decision to suspend the chapter stemmed from widespread threats from the Trump administration to withhold funding from cities that maintain diversity, equity and inclusion programs. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to end all such programs after his inauguration.
City Manager Trey Yelverton said in the Sept. 2 council meeting that $65 million in federal grants were at stake, which supports programs such as Handitran, Via, firefighter grants and housing assistance.
The decision to cancel the event was not made lightly, according to the Arlington Pride website.
The city’s first-ever LGBTQ+ pride event took place in 2022 with last year’s event drawing over 10,000 participants, according to previous Shorthorn reporting.
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