DRIPPING SPRINGS — When the Dripping Springs City Council proclaimed June as LGBTQIA Pride Month in 2021, a few members of the community came together to create the Pride of Dripping Springs organization.
Initially, the group was formed to put on a pride event in Dripping Springs. The first event in 2021 was put together in a 34-day period, with the group raising approximately $45,000 for the event.
“I believe [the event] was [from] 10 a.m. until midnight, which was insane,” said Vice President of the Pride of Dripping Springs Board of Directors Christopher Roberson. “It was a magical event for the community. We had great attendance. It was really great to see; in particular, young queer and trans[gender] kids walking around, [being] comfortable holding hands and dancing with each other, being in their element. And that really invigorated us to keep it going.”
For the next three years, the Pride of Dripping Springs held a big event every June to celebrate Pride Month. This year, the group is striving to be more present in the Dripping Springs community as a whole.
“This year, post-election and [with] the existential dread that is permeating most of our lives, we’re in the process of expanding what we do in the community,” said Roberson. “So, rather than focusing on one big celebration on a yearly basis and then more or less going radio silent for months at a time, we’re trying to create opportunities for people in this community to get together, whether they’re part of the LGBTQIA community or whether they’re allies. We’re now hosting two to three smaller events on a monthly basis that are opportunities for people to get together as adults, to get together as families and really just help people build more community.”
Since December 2024, the Pride of Dripping Springs group has had several events, Roberson shared, including happy hours, walking trails and visiting local restaurants, meet-ups to support the Texas Junior Roller Derby and a social justice ice cream party: “We know that there's a lot of crossover in our communities and so, we got as many people as we could just to come and support the participants and then, that was followed by a social justice ice cream party, where everyone then went to H-E-B, bought some Ben and Jerry’s ice cream and talked about what is advocacy in our community. What can we do to support each other?”
According to Roberson, on top of throwing parties or hosting events, the group wants to really give back to the community, as well.
“We want the way we approach pride to be so much more than just adults drinking together. We want us to have action,” said Roberson. “We want to continue having service days where we maybe help an older member of the community, [could] be with yard work that they can’t do on their own independently. Anything we can do to galvanize people, to get people motivated in one direction, that’s part of our mission.”
Roberson emphasized the importance of groups like this to the Dripping Springs community.
“I think in the political times that we’re in right now, it is more important than ever for people to know that there are others in their community who are like them, who share their values, who can be called upon if you need a helping hand,” Roberson explained.
“This year, we’ve already made a decision that our big pride festival will probably not look like it has in years past. We are still figuring out what it's going to look like, but we are having a really hard time justifying the financial commitment this year because fundraising has been really hard,” said Roberson. “We’re hearing from other nonprofits that grants are drying up because of the [issues] that’s happening in our government, that businesses are more skeptical to give money to pride related organizations because they are afraid of blowback from certain sides of our community … We’re not giving up by any means, but we are trying to make informed changes to where we put our time and how we focus our energy to support the local community.”
Roberson encouraged everyone to come out to events and support the organization and LGBTQIA people in the community.
“The first and foremost thing is to show up. Show up to events,” said Roberson. “Communicate to us things you want to see us doing and then, if there’s something you really care about us doing, get involved and help make it happen. Our board is a relatively small number of people. There’s five of us and then, we have two volunteers who handle other specific areas, but seven people is not a lot for organizing tons of events or putting on a giant festival that costs $40,000-plus, with insurance, venue and [emergency medical services] and security and all of the marketing that has to go into it. So, really, participation is so key.”
Beside participation, Roberson emphasized the importance of feedback from the community.
“We’re constantly trying to improve. Particularly in the last couple years, we’ve gone to great lengths. After an event, we send out a survey, [asking] what did you like about the event? What could be improved? What were your concerns about the event? We are trying to collect data from our subscribers, from our supporters, so that we understand where opportunities are … Send us an email with an idea you have, we are open ears,” Roberson concluded. “We are not in any way rigid or set in what we’re already doing. We are really trying to do the best we can with the resources we have.”
For more information about the Pride of Dripping Springs organization, visit www.prideofdrippingsprings.com.
