Families with Pride Honors Houston’s LGBTQ+ Community Sans Summer Heat

Houstonia’s The Must List tells you about something going on in Houston that you absolutely cannot miss.
One of the biggest complaints regarding Houston’s Pride Month festivities in June is that, well, it’s in Houston—in June. Even the most avid sunbathers would find the Gulf Coast in the middle of summer a challenge. Not everyone wants to—or, depending on their physiology, can—celebrate the LGBTQ+ community with White Claw–fueled dehydration and a chronic case of swamp ass. Luckily, Families with Pride has timed its annual event to coincide with LGBTQ History Month in October instead, offering a more inclusive environment for many people who feel locked out of Pride due to the weather. This year’s festivities will be held at Discovery Green on Saturday, October 18, allowing participants to enjoy humane temperatures.
But Families with Pride didn’t initially launch in October, or even at Discovery Green. Now in its fourth year, the free event, which first ran concurrently with Pride Month in June, was held at Levy Park until last year. Shifting to a less punishing season brought in more attendees, necessitating a move to a bigger venue. It’s a bright spot of positivity at a time when the LGBTQ+ community has once again become scapegoats and targets at the legislative level.
“Visibility is everything right now. Connection to community is everything right now,” says Tammi Wallace, cofounder, president, and CEO of the Greater Houston LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce, which presents Families with Pride alongside Council Member Abbie Kamin and Discovery Green. “We find that with all of our events at the Chamber. We do about 140 events in a given year, and we have seen since the election how critically important it is to connect community.”
Families with Pride is open to all: queer and transgender parents, the parents of queer and transgender children, allies, and even families with furry, four-legged kids. From 9am to noon, attendees can enjoy free activities like costume contests, arts and crafts, games, a Puppy Pawty, story times, face-painting, a live DJ, and history lessons. Discovery Green’s water park and playground amenities add to the fun long after the official program ends.

LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce board member and Let’s Talk About Gay Stuff podcast host Thomas Lopez, his husband, and their two daughters, ages 10 and 12, have been attending Families with Pride since its inception. Ask any parent, regardless of their sexuality, and many times they’ll admit that having kids can make socializing difficult. The struggle can be compounded for queer parents, who deal with additional political ostracism and social stigma that their cisgender, heterosexual counterparts do not. There is strength in solidarity, and Families with Pride facilitates that. “It’s a good opportunity to see other families coming together with their kiddos and engaging in all sorts of fun activities at the park, whether it’s splash pads or face-painting, and really just bringing the community together and…being able to celebrate just as normal, regular people do,” Lopez says.
Wallace agrees. Members of the LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce often discuss the ever-increasing need for family-friendly queer events and spaces. Events like Families with Pride have made it possible for Wallace to introduce LGBTQ+ parents to one another—and she talks about how she’s connected gay dads interested in organizing even more family activities. “The demand is absolutely there, and I think not only for the parents to connect, but to have the kids be able to connect and share in an environment where people understand what they're going through as LGBTQ+ families,” Wallace says.
Even in Houston, a city proudly touting its inclusivity and diversity, queer families keep their guard up for safety’s sake. Lopez recalls how he and his husband took down their rainbow flag in front of their home for a few months after last November’s election cycle and later added a fence. Before having kids, he and his husband were subjected to an assault soaking them in puddle water for holding hands. Just because they’re safer here than other parts of Texas doesn’t mean he isn’t “always looking over [his] shoulder” for possible dangers. “We were a little bit nervous about what people may have felt permissible in this new environment,” Lopez says, referring to the barrage of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation he’s witnessed at both the state and federal levels.

Kamin represents District C, which includes Houston’s historic gayborhood of Montrose. She helped launch Families with Pride along with Wallace and the LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce after constituents asked for more family-friendly Pride options. Involvement at the event, which Kamin and her own family attend annually, is one way she utilizes her platform to spread the message that queer families should find a sense of belonging in Houston. “With so much divisiveness, polarization, and hate that is impacting the federal rhetoric directly impacting local communities and families, now, more than ever, we have to be coming together,” she says. “We have to be celebrating one another, the beautiful diversity of our city, but also taking a stand with our Houston families to make sure that everyone is welcomed, everyone is celebrated.”
Along with Lopez and Wallace, Kamin views Families with Pride as an opportunity to show the world that loving, healthy queer families are commonplace. They won’t go away quietly just because a sheet of paper with an official seal denies their inherent humanity. At the end of the day, all the participating parents and their children want is a chance to play and grow together. “It’s so, so, so important that we’re with people that are aligned and understand the challenges that we’re facing, whether it’s individuals or families, and get that support,” Wallace says.
Know Before You Go
- When: Saturday, October 18, 9am–noon
- Where: Discovery Green, 1500 McKinney St, Downtown
- Cost: Free
- More info: Discovery Green’s website.