The Tarrant County Commissioners Court did not receive a scheduled July 1 briefing on a state historical marker that County Judge Tim O鈥橦are said he stopped for procedural improprieties, but they did debate the issue.
Local Democats and LGBTQ leaders have contended O鈥橦are acted outside of his authority and with the intent to silence LGBTQ history in Fort Worth.
The briefing was scheduled after the June 12 that O鈥橦are penned a letter to the Texas Historical Commission demanding that it rescind approval of the marker application. He argued that Tarrant County Historical Commission members did not follow the correct process in reviewing the city application before sending it to the state commission, which had the final say on approval.
A county staff member told commissioners the person scheduled to give the briefing wasn鈥檛 available to speak July 1. Commissioners were initially scheduled to hear the presentation June 17, but that meeting was canceled because the court .
County spokesperson Regina Calderon did not return a request for comment on whether commissioners would hear the briefing at a later date.
The application for a historical marker originated from Fort Worth staff and would have been located at the site of the Rainbow Lounge, an LGBTQ bar raided by members of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission and Fort Worth police in 2009 and widely seen since as a local LGBTQ landmark. The historical marker would not have specifically recognized the bar, but instead spotlighted Jennings Avenue and the surrounding neighborhood in the Near Southside as the center of Fort Worth鈥檚 LGBTQ community, according to a obtained by the Report.
Although the scheduled briefing didn鈥檛 happen, commissioners discussed the agenda item during the meeting and heard public comments from five Tarrant residents, who all spoke in opposition to O鈥橦are鈥檚 effort to shut down the project.
Commissioner Alisa Simmons said O鈥橦are鈥檚 issue with the historical marker wasn鈥檛 about following processes but about 鈥渆rasing history, specifically the history of the LGBTQ community in Tarrant County.鈥� She described his effort to shut down the project as 鈥渄iscriminatory鈥� and 鈥減olitical grandstanding.鈥�
鈥淭here is not an error of process here,鈥� Simmon said. 鈥淲hat we have is an abuse of power.鈥�
She said appointees to county boards and commissions should be trusted to do the jobs for which they were appointed, which she believes the historical commission chair at the time did. Colleta Strickland, who oversaw the marker application as chair at the time, that the process wasn鈥檛 followed.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 get to rewrite history because you don鈥檛 like it or what it includes,鈥� Simmons said. 鈥淭his court and these court members should not be in the business of gatekeeping history, especially when it鈥檚 rooted in discrimination and political interference.鈥�
O鈥橦are said commission members told him the marker application never went to their review. He noted that Fort Worth leadership agreed with his assessment and supported pulling the application.
Fort Worth City Manager Jay Chapa asked for the application to be pulled because 鈥渢here was no public process or external request for making the request and it did not follow the county鈥檚 procedures for historical markers,鈥� according to a previous .
鈥淚n addition, it shouldn鈥檛 come as much of a surprise that I don鈥檛 think glorifying drag show performances is an appropriate thing,鈥� O鈥橦are said July 1. 鈥淚 don鈥檛. I won鈥檛 now, I won鈥檛 tomorrow, I won鈥檛 next week, I won鈥檛 next month.鈥�
Addressing commissioners July 1, local historian Todd Camp said the historical marker would not have memorialized the Rainbow Lounge raid or glorified drag shows. Camp , which documents LGBTQ history across Fort Worth and Tarrant County, and edited the text that would have been inscribed on the marker.
鈥淢arkers do more than commemorate 鈥� they educate,鈥� Camp said. 鈥淭hey invite visitors and residents alike to engage with the layered, complex stories that shape a place. When one community鈥檚 story is absent, the historical record is incomplete.鈥�
He said Fort Worth has seven state historical markers classified under Black history, one marker for Asian American history and one for women鈥檚 history 鈥� but none for LGBTQ history. The only state marker dedicated to LGBTQ history in Texas is located at the intersection of Cedar Springs Road and Throckmorton Street in Dallas, considered the center of the city鈥檚 LGBTQ community since the 1970s, according to the Texas Historical Commission鈥檚 .
During the meeting, Commissioner Matt Krause asked Simmons why she thinks the Texas Historical Commission granted O鈥橦are鈥檚 request to remove the application if the application process had been followed correctly. O鈥橦are can write 鈥渁ny letter, all the letters he wants,鈥� Krause said, but he doesn鈥檛 have power over whether the commission would grant his request.
Simmons鈥� response was brief: 鈥淧olitical pressure.鈥�
A spokesperson for the Texas Historical Commission previously said it rescinded the application at O鈥橦are鈥檚 request but directed questions about the decision to county officials.
O鈥橦are said his letter to the state commission is 鈥渟elf-explanatory and accurate,鈥� and he stands by it 100%. If an application for the same historical marker went through the correct process, O鈥橦are said, the application would get approved and move forward.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that the Tarrant County Commissioners Court to the county鈥檚 historical commission. Calderon, the county spokesperson, did not return the Report鈥檚 request for the names of the new appointees, who were not listed on the July 1 meeting agenda.
Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org.
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