TAYLOR, Texas — It was a scene straight out of a holiday movie: a Christmas parade where Taylor residents lined Main Street celebrating and ringing in the season.
Taylor Pride had a float in the City of Taylor Christmas parade with a theme of "peace on Earth." It comes off the heels of last year, when the parade organizer – the Taylor Area Ministerial Alliance – added language to its application saying that potential floats should not contradict the organization's biblical and family values. The City chose to do a second parade meant to be more inclusive.
This year, the City of Taylor hosted the only parade, and Taylor Pride President Denise Rodgers said she is ready to move forward.
"The City did a fantastic job," Rodgers said. "They were definitely more consistent and fair and inclusive and then, obviously, also representative of everyone that now lives in Taylor and really protective of the city."
Before the parade, the Taylor Area Ministerial Alliance took to social media, saying in part, "Taylor city leaders sided with just a few LGBTQ activists and voted 4 to 1 in favor of a new ordinance that allows sexualized LGBTQ drag queens, Satanists and any anti-Christ group to participate in the Christmas parade."
"The reality is we all celebrate holidays, all of the holidays in all kinds of different ways, and it means something different to all of us. So, you know, it didn't bother anyone but them," Rodgers said.
Hayley Blundell is a business owner who sees the parade as a symbol of togetherness in a rapidly growing and changing city.
"We all have to pull together and just move forward as a united group instead of having all these divisions and pulling everything in different directions. Unfortunately, whether we like it or not, Taylor is going to grow and it's going to be a little bit of change," Blundell said.
KVUE reached out to the City, which had no comment on last year's event.