Lubbock City Council Strips Funding For First Friday Art Trail Over Drag Show Event

First Friday Art Trail is a staple of Lubbock and is an event attending by thousands of people each month. On Tuesday, the Lubbock City Council voted to strip funding from the event.

Lubbock City Councilman David Glasheen proposed an amendment to prohibit First Friday Art Trail from receiving $30,000 in Cultural Arts Grants through Civic Lubbock. The tax money used for these grants come from the Hotel Occupancy Tax.

Glasheen spoke about the First Friday Art Trail getting $30,000 in funding in 2023. Glasheen said that in June of 2024, First Friday Art Trail promoted programs that "promoted the LGBT agenda" including a program called "Queering West Texas, a child-friendly LGBT Workshop". Glasheen also said that a Drag Show was promoted during First Friday Art Trail and that the Art Trail plans to put on "full Drag Show performances within the next year". Glasheen expressed concern about a broader issue across the state where government entities have used tax payer money to promote the LGBT agenda.

Glasheen said the practice inappropriate.

Councilwoman Christy Martinez-Garcia, who voted against the amendment, said she believed the Art Trail should be inclusive for everyone and that the council should represent everyone.

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Lubbock Mayor Mark McBrayer said the issue was with content of a sexual nature and that drag queen performances are sexualized and that the City has "no business" spending tax money promoting it at an event that is supposed to be family friendly. McBrayer said it was "unfortunate" that First Friday went in this direction.

The City Council voted 5-2 to strip the funding with Councilwoman Martinez-Garcia and Councilman Gordon Harris voting against the amendment.

LHUCA responded after the vote claiming no one from the City Council reached out to them about the LGBTQ+ programming and that the programming "in question was not held on LHUCA property but rather a separate entity in control of their own creative programming". According to LHUCA, the grant money funded marketing of the First Friday Art Trail, the free trolley service LHUCA provides, security, signage, local bands, and artists who have exhibits inside the LHUCA Galleries.

The next First Friday Art Trail is Friday, August 2nd.

You can watch video of the discussion here.