State Rep. Carrie Isaac, the New Braunfels Republican who filed a widely ridiculed 2023 bill attempting to ban election polling places from college campuses, has once again waded into the culture war.
The organizers of New Braunfels’ Riverside Pride Festival have switched venues for the upcoming event after Isaac contacted officials overseeing the Comal County Fairground and urged them not to host it, KSAT News reports. Instead, the gathering will take place this weekend at Faith UCC Church.
Isaac told KSAT that past photographs from Riverside Pride and an online statement from a person once slated to perform at the event convinced her it would include sexually explicit performances.
In a letter to the Comal County Fair and Rodeo Executive Board, Isaac invoked Senate Bill 12, a state law that sought to criminalizes performers who put on sexually explicit shows in front of children as well as businesses that host the shows. She warned that both the board and the venue could face “significant legal liability” if it hosted the celebration.
However, a federal judge blocked enforcement of SB 12 in September 2023, mere weeks after it went into effect, saying the law “impermissibly infringes on the First Amendment and chills free speech.”
Undaunted by that legal technicality, Isaac claimed in her letter that despite the court’s decision, “the definitions and structure of the statute create significant ambiguity.”
“A persistent argument from opponents of SB 12 is that drag or similar performances should be protected under free speech,” Isaac added. “Do you believe that sexual performances in front of children are a form of free speech? This is an issue of both legal responsibility and moral stewardship.”
Mike Stegen, a Riverside Pride board member, told KSAT the drag show was never going to be sexually explicit. Indeed, the nonprofit wants to present a family-friendly program to push back against misconceptions about drag, he added.
“It’s culture, it’s not a crime,” Stegen told KSAT. “It’s not harmful to children, and we’re not going to stop having drag shows.”
Even so, Stegen said Isaac’s letter stirred up a hornet’s nest for his organization.
“We started to see more misinformation turn into security concerns, so we decided that we had to find a different venue,” Stegen told the TV station.
Meanwhile, in remarks to KSAT, Isaac hinted that she may not be done with Riverside Pride — even though the event has moved to a private venue.
“We’ll see … to be determined, right?” the state rep said. “I don’t trust that they will not be sexual in nature.”
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