Photographer Julián P. Ledezma alleges he was not allowed into a section of the Pride San Antonio parade on Saturday, June 26, 2026, after showing a press pass.
Courtesy of Julián Ledezma
A San Antonio photographer said they were denied entry to a section of the city’s beloved Pride Parade after presenting their credentials, with seemingly no explanation. The tense situation unfolded on the evening of Saturday, June 27, but didn’t keep the award-winning photographer from capturing moments from the event.
Freelancer Julián P. Ledezma attended the Pride Bigger Than Texas night parade to capture images for the San Antonio Current, a digital and print publication with more than 272,000 monthly readers. Ledezma, who has more than two decades of professional experience, tells MySA he has covered the celebration for various outlets for more than 14 years.
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“I am there to capture people laughing; I’m there to capture people having fun. I’m there for the drag,” Ledezma said. “I’m there to take pictures of those in families, and that’s exactly what I was doing.”
Ledezma arrived at a parking lot near San Antonio College (SAC) around 6 p.m. to explore the neighborhood and photograph nearby festivities. Several images, later published on Ledezma’s Facebook, depict people in colorful attire, wearing sparkling tutus and roller skates. Others show smiling guests flashing peace signs or holding LGBTQIA+ flags.
San Antonio photographer Julián P. Ledezma captures images at the Pride San Antonio parade on Saturday, June 27, 2026. He was covering the event for the San Antonio Current.
Courtesy of Julián Ledezma/JPL Productions
San Antonio photographer Julián P. Ledezma captures images at the Pride San Antonio parade on Saturday, June 27, 2026. He was covering the event for the San Antonio Current.
Courtesy of Julián Ledezma/JPL Productions
At roughly 8:50 p.m., Ledezma began walking along Main Street, down the parade route, which is within the city’s Pride Cultural Heritage District. This route is routine for Ledezma. He documents people, culture, and marches, from nonprofit events to Fiesta.
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But this time, he noticed a group of police officers staring at him from afar. As Ledezma continued down Main Street, he says a San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) officer stopped him, telling him he was not allowed to keep walking along the route.
“And I’m like, ‘No, no, no, I’m, I’m photographing, I’m documenting.’ And quickly grab my press pass … He looks at my credentials, he grabs it from my neck, and he looks at it,” Ledezma said. “And then he just throws it back at me on my chest, and he says, ‘This looks fake. It looks like you made this in your house.”
Ledezma said he identified himself and how long he has been in the media business to the officer. He has won the Current’s award for best photographer three years in a row. In total, he has 20 years of career experience.
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“I deal with cops a lot, and I’ve never come across a situation like this. I’ve never come across a cop that is not listening to the words that I’m saying,” he said. “Kids are looking at me, and families are looking at me like, ‘What is he going to do?’ Like, ‘They just threw the press pass at his face.’ I’ve been doing it for so long, but what if it’s the new journalist that’s coming through, what if it’s the amateur photographer? …. I don’t want any LGBTQIA+ photographer to be humiliated like that.”
Ledezma became worried he would not be able to continue taking pictures, as it is his life’s work. The Pride Parade, in particular, he says, is the “Olympics” of images.
“All I cared about was being allowed to do that, and he was stopping me from doing that. And so he was telling me no, and he was telling me to turn around. He was telling me that you’re not going to be allowed.”
Ledezma said he asked why other journalists and photographers were allowed to pass by but not him. He said he did not receive a clear answer.
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“I would like to say that the people that they were letting through didn’t look gay,” Ledezma said. “I don’t know that I carry, you know, a rainbow on my face, but I, you know, I have short sleeves on, I’m sweaty, I speak differently. And I don’t know. I just don’t know, because if no one had been able to enter, then I wouldn’t be so angry. But they were allowing other people to go through that, just didn’t look like me.”
Ledezma says he remained calm and walked away from the conversation. Still, in that moment, he recalls feeling sad and heartbroken. He says that law enforcement should learn a better way to handle these situations and place emphasis on not provoking those involved.
“You’re going to come across people who are excited, who are screaming, who are shouting, and I don’t want people to tolerate us,” Ledezma said. “I want people to know the reasoning why we’re here.”
Frazzled, he brought the issue to a Pride San Antonio parade organizer, James Poindexter, Ledezma says, and asked what he should do. According to Ledezma, Poindexter was directing traffic at the time and did not help him. Ultimately, he was able to take photos with the help of a family member.
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“My cousin Jojo Ibarra was riding in the parade in a convertible. She waved me over and invited me to climb in. I found myself sitting on the crop top, elevated from the crowd, right in the center of the convertible, exactly where you’d expect to see a mayor, a grand marshal, or some important dignitary waving to thousands of people lining the streets. People yelled my name and the SA Current. I resumed and started taking pictures again,” Ledezma wrote in a Facebook post. “As we rolled past the very officer who had denied me access just minutes earlier, there I was, front and center, with the best seat in the entire parade.”
Ledezma says he jotted down the officer’s badge number and took a photo of the officer. The Current has filed a complaint with SAPD, according to Editor-in-Chief Sanford Nowlin. Ledezma says his press pass is “a little beat up” because he has been using it for so long.
San Antonio photographer Julián P. Ledezma captures images at the Pride San Antonio parade on Saturday, June 27, 2026. He was covering the event for the San Antonio Current.
Courtesy of Julián Ledezma/JPL Productions
“Julian Ledezma, a freelance photographer who’s shot for the Current for years, shared with me Sunday morning his account of an interaction with an SAPD officer at the Pride Parade and Block Party,” Nolin told MySA. “I have since reached out to the department about the allegations. Members of law enforcement should treat the media respectfully, and I want to make sure we get to the bottom of what happened.”
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Pondexter did not respond to a request for a statement by the time of this article’s publication. SAPD also did not respond to a request for comment about the incident. MySA will update this story if we hear back.
Ledezma says the Current has been supporting him during the incident and that they were appalled by how he was treated.
“So in the end, I found a way to photograph. And when you look at those images, I want you to know… I don’t want you to remember what happened to me. I want you to remember why we’re here, right?” Ledezma said. “I want you to see the community celebrating love, celebrating resilience and gay joy, and it’s that simple, right?”
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Ledezma says he got home from the event after 2 a.m., and he didn’t let the incident dampen the evening.
“It’s a lot of hard work, and I’ve done it for years. And it’s my pleasure to do all that work so that the LGBTQIA+ community of San Antonio is represented,” he said. “We’re here, and we’re not going anywhere.”