After a year without Tarrant County’s largest LGBTQ+ celebration, Arlington Pride will return in 2027, organizers announced Tuesday morning.
DeeJay Johannessen, CEO of the HELP Center for LGBTQ+ Health, said the most recent local election outcomes showed the public wants politicians who are supportive of inclusivity. Johannessen added that conversations with city leaders indicated a willingness to engage in discussions about LGBTQ+ protections previously removed.
“Given those two things, the decision was made that we were comfortable in bringing Pride back for 2027,” Johannessen said.
Johannessen said the event will be scheduled for June 12 at the Levitt Pavilion, where it was previously held for two years before the 2026 cancellation.
This year’s celebration was canceled last year after Arlington City Council voted to remove its antidiscrimination ordinance providing local protections for LGBTQ+ people. Officials said the city was at risk of losing federal grant funding with the ordinance in place due to anti-DEI directives from President Donald Trump.
Asked what changed between last December — when the council declined to bring the ordinance back — and now, Johannessen said his focus is on the future and not “relitigating the past.”
“We are where we are and we are committed to working with city leadership, with the community, in making sure that going forward, we are able to ensure that everybody feels welcome, wanted and protected,” Johannessen told the Arlington Report.
Mayor Jim Ross, who often made appearances at the yearly celebration to give a Pride proclamation, said he was excited to see the event return.
“I hated to see it be off for a year, but I’m excited to have it back,” Ross said. “I think it’s important for our community, and I plan on being there to help celebrate Pride, like I always am.”
As for the antidiscrimination ordinance, the council passed a new version in February, although it lacks some of its original language and policies. Ross said he agrees with Johannessen about going forward but didn’t close the door on future discussion about protections.
“There’s no secret that the (antidiscrimination ordinance) didn’t go the way I wanted,” said Ross, who pushed to keep some form of protection in place. “But there’s continued dialogue that is being had about ways that we can make sure everybody feels protected and welcomed here.”
The ordinance and protections will be part of a larger conversation in the fall, Ross added. He plans to host community town halls beginning in October after the city council finalizes Arlington’s budget.
“I intend to do some very direct town hall meetings to address difficult, sensitive issues like the antidiscrimination ordinance, like gas well permitting, those types of things, where we address those things head-on with the community, and have some very open, candid, genuinely productive conversations,” Ross said.
On Sunday, Johannessen was featured on a float in the New York City Pride celebration, alongside community LGBTQ+ leaders whose cities saw their events cancelled. He said the experience brought him an “overwhelming feeling of joy.”
“Being able to announce it is coming back feels great, because one of the things that was sorely missed by not having it in 2026 is that feeling of community, camaraderie, pride and joy,” Johannessen said.
Editor’s note: This is a developing story and will be updated frequently.Chris Moss is a reporter for the Arlington Report. Contact him at chris.moss@arlingtonreport.org.
At the Arlington Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
This article first appeared on Arlington Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
