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After nearly half a century serving as the primary organization behind Houston’s Pride celebrations, Pride Houston 365 is facing competition for the first time and Houston city leaders have voiced concerns. 

“I was really disappointed to see that,” Mayor John Whitmire said during Wednesday’s city council meeting. “Quite frankly, competing parades is just not what we should be about. I will bring the parties together.” 

District H Councilmember Mario Castillo was the first to bring up concerns regarding the city having two Pride organizations, saying two parades reflect a “leadership gap in the community.” 

The new group, which goes by Houston’s New Faces of Pride, launched last summer, vowing to restore direction to Pride celebrations after Pride Houston 365 took a hit to its reputation when former executive director and president Lorin Roberts was accused of stealing more than $100,000 from the organization and misappropriating more than $50,000.

“We want to bring respect and transparency and organization back,” said Bryan Cotton, president of Houston’s New Faces of Pride. 

Dueling pride parades in Houston

New Faces of Pride will hold its inaugural Pride festival and parade celebration at City Hall on June 22, while Pride Houston 365 is hosting its 46th annual festival and parade the following week, on June 29. 

“We don’t compete. We serve,” said Kendra Walker, president of Pride Houston 365. “Anybody can throw a Pride parade. There’s no monopoly.” But she noted that the new group is using the exact same route as Pride Houston 365.

Jack Valinski, who spent decades working for Pride Houston 365, but now serves on the board of directors for New Faces of Pride, attended Tuesday’s City Council meeting to introduce the organization and address any confusion, according to Cotton. 

Valinski’s appearance prompted Castillo to ask Whitmire about the status of the Mayor’s Office LGBT Advisory Board, which was implemented by former Mayor Sylvester Turner in 2016. Castillo proposed using it as a potential solution to repair the “rift” that has occurred within the community. 

“When we have two parades, we really do a disservice to the unity that we see during Pride and all the communities that come together,” Castillo said. 

Cotton said they have a wonderful relationship with the city of Houston, which approves permits for events. 

“They’re very happy that we’re here,” he said. 

‘Saving the pride community’

Cotton declined to identify city staff who support the group, but said veteran leaders like Dustin Sheffield, Monte Bachus, Dan Cato and Jill Maxwell are on his advisory board and boost the credibility of New Faces of Pride. 

“These are all people who were at 365 and witnessed the things that have happened,” he said. 

After they departed Pride Houston 365, “everything went downhill,” Cotton said, and the organization became “extremely chaotic and unorganized.” He disputed Castillo’s assertion that two parades are a disservice, saying he views it as “saving the pride community.” 

Whitmire shared Castillo’s disappointment and vowed to do his part to bring the two parties together, but acknowledged that Castillo — an openly gay council member — was probably in a better position to spark unity. Whitmire proposed they revisit the city’s permitting process and use their governance as one way to discourage competing parades.

“I mean a week apart, it’s not fair to the participants, our city resources, public safety,” Whitmire said. “I mean, it’s just nuts to have the same-purpose parade done within a week of each other.”

The responsibility of allowing these events ultimately falls on the city, Walker said, and she would have liked to see city officials seek community input on spending resources to have two back-to-back celebrations that are so much alike. 

“I didn’t see the city send out a questionnaire,” Walker said. “I didn’t see the city hold a town hall or any of that before these two events were permitted within the week of each other and in the same place.”

Whitmire said that he would extend the same message to MLK Day celebrations, which has for decades hosted two parades — something former Mayor Turner and other city leaders did not support either, as reported by ABC 13 in 2022.

“Somebody just has to use some good judgment and say, ‘In this day in time we need to come together and celebrate and honor MLK and certainly our Pride community but not do it with competing interest,” Whitmire said.

Walker said a comparison to MLK Day is unfair considering more than 22 percent of the city’s 2.3 million residents are Black or African American, and about 5 percent identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community. 

Past turmoil at Pride Houston 365

In 2021, Pride Houston’s board moved to fire the organization’s first executive director and former president, Lorin “Lo” Roberts, claiming embezzlement and misappropriation of more than $150,000.

Roberts had served as president of Pride Houston since 2017, filling the unpaid volunteer role until March of 2020, when she was promoted to executive director and given a salary of about $61,000 annually plus benefits. 

Roberts was fired in 2021 as board members found unauthorized credit lines and expenditures approved by then treasurers Jacob Sieglel and Dustin Sheffield – Sheffield was never served with the lawsuit and now serves on New Faces’ advisory board, while the lawsuit against Sieglel was settled.  

After a lengthy legal battle, the court ruled in favor of Pride Houston, issuing a partial ruling and ordering Roberts to pay $1.2 million in damages. The full case was still pending a trial, which was originally scheduled to start this week but continues to get delayed. 

The organization’s finances took a hit not only from the alleged misappropriation, but from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic forcing its new leadership to figure out ways to continue their annual celebrations while finding ways to stay afloat. 

“Through strategic partnerships and being a good steward of our finances, is how we emerge to be in a place we are now where we are not worrying about paying bills,” Walker said.

What does the future look like with two parades?

Tammi Wallace, president and CEO of the Greater Houston LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce, said she wasn’t surprised that the dueling organizations were a topic of discussion in City Council recently. 

“It’s been a discussion point in the community for months now,” she said acknowledging that they’ve been inundated with calls from both sponsors and community members who are confused and torn trying to decide which organization to support.

“People just don’t understand what’s going on.”

The name alone caused some confusion. In November, Pride Houston 365 sued the new organization under their previous name “The New Faces of Pride Houston” accusing them of trademark infringement due to the closeness of their names. The matter was settled shortly after prompting the new organization to change its name to clarify the two are not linked. 

Both Pride Houston 365 and New Faces of Pride are chamber members, and the chamber plans to participate in both events this year. Their advice to sponsors and community members, she said, has been to engage with both before deciding. 

Despite the controversy, neither organization has struggled to obtain sponsorship. But it’s a big and difficult decision for sponsors, Wallace said. 

Some sponsors, Wallace said, decided to remain loyal to Pride Houston 365, while some switched and decided to sponsor New Faces of Pride. Others, Wallace said, are opting out of sponsoring either organization this year and are waiting to see how everything plays out.

Wallace hopes both organizations can unite one day to combat the ongoing attacks against the LGBTQ+ community. But ultimately, she thinks the community will have to wait and see what happens after June.

“I want to have a ton of faith that these leaders will come together,” she said. “Leadership, collaboration — that’s what moves community forward.” 

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