PBS NewsHour White House Correspondent Laura Barron-Lopez took a field trip down to Taylor, Texas, for Monday’s show to report on “the frontline of the war on LGBTQ rights” and how allegedly certain people are “challenging their very existence.” At the same time Barron-Lopez condemned a group of pastors for not wanting drag queens at their Christmas parade.
When seeking to answer the question why Taylor is such a hot spot of controversy, Barron-Lopez reported that “Some Taylor residents point to a single event when they describe the divisions here, the town Christmas parade, which has come down this street for decades. That, they say, is what put Taylor on the frontline of the war on LGBTQ rights. In 2021, for the first time, the line of Christmas floats on Main Street, including one from Taylor Pride, which carried drag queens. One of the performers was Felicia Enspire.”
Enspire was then shown claiming “We were cheered and clapped for the entire parade. I felt like everyone enjoyed it. We didn't hear any kind of backlash at all, until the following year, and it's like it exploded all over Facebook out of nowhere.”
Barron-Lopez followed up in a voiceover by declaring “That explosion happened in the months leading up to the 2022 Christmas parade. TAMA [Taylor Area Ministerial Alliance], which put on the parade with the city, didn't want any float with drag queens.”
Yes, PBS is trying to make a big controversy over Christian ministers not wanting drag queens at the parade that they organize. In 2022, TAMA had said the inclusion of the drag queens was due to “an unfortunate oversight."
Barron-Lopez would let TAMA’s Jeff Ripple say his piece, “Drag queens in a Christmas float is not consistent with Christianity as we believe it. And so, last year, in the entry forms, we simply made a notation that said all entries must conform with traditional family and Biblical values and that created a firestorm.”
However, she was also sure to label him as “unapologetic about his anti-LGBTQ beliefs” and despite all the doom and gloom in the segment, Taylor held two Christmas parades last year: one put on by TAMA and one put on by the city. Ripple would also tell Barron-Lopez that he didn’t care who participates in the city’s parade, but that TAMA’s insists its participants not contradict “Biblical values”
Outside of Christmas season, the float’s sponsor, Taylor Pride, puts on several events which has led to protests from TAMA. Closing out the segment with Taylor Pride’s Denise Rodgers, Barron-Lopez lamented, “she says the rising anti-LGBTQ efforts in red states across the country are being acutely felt by LGBTQ youth.”
Rodgers then claimed that “They're feeling less supported. They're feeling that there's less resources. And we worry about that. The kind of help they're reaching out for is — we have a lot of scared youth, for sure.”
The segment ended with Barron-Lopez claiming “Rodgers says that's why Taylor Pride won't stop holding events. Even as people challenging their very existence stand at the door.”
With that line Barron-Lopez was echoing something Rodgers said earlier in the segment, “We are just trying to exist and they show up wherever we are every time. Literally just children doing crafts and art and having fun and existing, and they still show up to protest just their existence and them gathering.”
Children do arts and crafts all the time and nobody cares, so that’s not the issue and PBS shouldn’t pretend that it is.
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Here is a transcript for the June 5 show:
PBS NewsHour
6/5/2023
7:30 PM ET
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Some Taylor residents point to a single event when they describe the divisions here, the town Christmas parade, which has come down this street for decades. That, they say, is what put Taylor on the frontline of the war on LGBTQ rights. In 2021, for the first time, the line of Christmas floats on Main Street, including one from Taylor Pride, which carried drag queens. One of the performers was Felicia Enspire.
FELICIA ENSPIRE: We were cheered and clapped for the entire parade. I felt like everyone enjoyed it. We didn't hear any kind of backlash at all, until the following year, and it's like it exploded all over Facebook out of nowhere.
BARRON-LOPEZ: That explosion happened in the months leading up to the 2022 Christmas parade. TAMA, which put on the parade with the city, didn't want any float with drag queens.
JEFF RIPPLE: Drag queens in a Christmas float is not consistent with Christianity as we believe it. And so, last year, in the entry forms, we simply made a notation that said all entries must conform with traditional family and Biblical values and that created a firestorm.
…
BARRON-LOPEZ: And she says the rising anti-LGBTQ efforts in red states across the country are being acutely felt by LGBTQ youth.
DENISE RODGERS: They're feeling less supported. They're feeling that there's less resources. And we worry about that. The kind of help they're reaching out for is — we have a lot of scared youth, for sure.
BARRON-LOPEZ: Rodgers says that's why Taylor Pride won't stop holding events.
WOMAN: Good job, buddy.
BARRON-LOPEZ: Even as people challenging their very existence stand at the door. For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Laura Barron-Lopez in Taylor, Texas.
