Pride of Dripping Springs holds inaugural event

Hundreds celebrated Pride month in Dripping Springs, 1,300 to be exact for Pride of Dripping Springs' inaugural event. The festivities took place at Roadrunners Bar & Grill and featured a full lineup of events from noon to after midnight. 

"Today was amazing," Christopher Roberson, Pride of Dripping Springs Committee said. "Not just because we pulled off a miraculous feat in a very short timeframe, but because our community came out in numbers and the event was filled with joy, laughter, and love. I am acutely aware of how many people in this community don't understand the need or purpose of Pride....but as a gay man who grew up in Dripping Springs, I can't even begin to tell you how meaningful and important it would have been to have this level of support and visibility when I was just a kid in a small town trying to figure out not only who I was, but who I would become."

The daytime event featured kid-friendly entertainment ranging from story time, kid’s Musician Will Parker, and Silly Sparkles twisting balloons. Adults and kids alike danced the afternoon away to DJ GiiQ, and Chris Duarte and Amy Lee entertained with their steely blues and southern Americana. After dark, more than 500 people turned out for a night of comedy and drag with Nadine Hughes and her fellow drag queen Jezebel as they performed to several popular pride anthems. A keynote speaker was also on hand to share his message "You are not alone." Nathan Manske is the founder and Executive Director of the nonprofit organization 'I’m From Driftwood, the LGBTQ+ Story Archive', which produces and shares first-person queer and trans stories.

“Pulling off this Inaugural event in just over a month took a lot of hard work done by a very dedicated group of people," Simone Laurent, Pride of Dripping Springs Committee said. "Seeing not only the outpour of support from the community but the number of LGBTQ teenagers being given space, in DS, to be free and happy and PROUD made all the hard work beyond worth it. Thank you, Dripping Springs, you really showed up and made us all so proud.”

"As the mother of an LGBTQ child, I can’t say enough what it means to me that my child can depend on so many in the Dripping Springs community to be supportive and nurturing and that my child can find so many loving role models here in their hometown,” Penelope Frohlich, Pride of Dripping Springs Committee said.

Pride of Dripping Springs is a community-led non-profit organization focused on celebrating diversity, inclusion, and creating an environment of support and visibility for the LGBTQ+ members of Dripping Springs and the surrounding areas. The Inaugural Pride of Dripping Springs was held on June 26, 2021, at Roadrunner's Bar & Grill. To learn more, visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/PRIDEofDRIPPINGSPRINGS.