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When Roger Calderon moved from New York back to North Texas in 2019, he immediately got to work. A self-described “very social person” with an extensive background in nonprofit and advocacy work, Calderon knew he needed to find something that would not only occupy his time but also ingrain him in a community as he moved home to Arlington to care for his mother. It wasn’t long before he met Tyler Long, the founder of Fort Worth’s most prominent LGBTQ Pride event, Trinity Pride. Through that friendship, Calderon quickly got involved with Trinity Pride, which checked a lot of boxes for him. Nonprofit. LGBTQ. Grassroots. Community.  “I believe that Trinity Pride can be and is a beacon in keeping this community strong, for whoever comes here and whoever needs it,” Calderon, 43, said. In 2019, Calderon needed that community. Six years later, as increasing numbers of attacks on the LGBTQ community are reported both locally and across the nation, he wants to continue providing the camaraderie and celebration that Trinity Pride provides to so many. After taking over Trinity Pride leadership from Long last fall, he’s now working to not only revamp the 2025 event but ensure the longevity and stability of the festival for years to come. What is Trinity Pride? 

Founded in 2019, Trinity Pride is an annual festival held in June to celebrate LGBTQ Pride in Fort Worth’s Near Southside neighborhood. The event for all ages is targeted at members and allies of the LGBTQ community. The festival typically features a market of local vendors and performances from musical artists and drag queens. Passing the torchAfter leading the organization for five years, Long resigned from his position as president of Trinity Pride to move out of state with his partner in 2024. Long, who worked as a teacher for Fort Worth ISD as well as other suburban school districts, said it had been a longtime goal to move out of Texas. Although it was bittersweet to leave behind his toddler nonprofit, he knew the time was right and felt comfortable in leaving the organization in the hands of the many volunteers who helped him raise it. Tyler Long, founder and former president of Trinity Pride, pictured in June 2022. (Marcheta Fornoff | Fort Worth Report)“It was time for someone else to kind of step into that place that could take it to a new direction — not a completely new direction, but bring some fresh energy to it,” Long said. Who would next carry the torch was unclear for several months. Calderon, who joined the nonprofit’s board in 2022, was key in organizing Trinity Pride’s virtual and hybrid festivals in 2020 and 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic derailed the organization’s in-person festivities. 
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While living in New York for 19 years, he held several roles in the nonprofit and public events realm, including for The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center and the now-defunct Empire State Pride Agenda. Now, he works as the chapter manager for the Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS in Dallas. He jokingly describes himself as a “professional homosexual.” Despite confidence in his physical ability to lead the nonprofit, Calderon admits he was “very resistant” to the idea. Through encouragement from other board members and the nudging of his New York friends, who insisted “this is what you do,” Calderon agreed to become the new president. Megan Henderson, director of events and communications for Near Southside Inc. and a close friend of Calderon and Long, said Calderon is aptly suited for the role with his big personality and extensive experience in public events. As a veteran in the public events sphere herself, she noted that it’s common for a grassroots organization to fall apart during leadership transitions. That wasn’t the case for Trinity Pride, which has a wealth of capable volunteers and stable funding sources, she said. “It’s in really stable hands,” Henderson said. “In many ways, this is just the continuation of a good thing. There’s not a lot of turbulence.”Calderon said that throughout the leadership transition, he’s been working to ensure the long-term stability of the event by reviewing the nonprofit’s bylaws to implement term limits for board members, establish committees to handle specific planning work and other administrative tasks to make passing the torch easier next time there’s a leadership transition. He considers it a continuation of the work Long wanted to accomplish but couldn’t because of pandemic challenges and the time needed to get a grassroots organization up and running. “It’s a continuation of what Tyler wanted,” Calderon said. “Tyler wanted an organization for the community that could be run by the community, and now I’m just trying to set up that system.” 2025 festival will be ‘immersive’ in Near SouthsideTrinity Pride’s 2025 festival is scheduled for June 28, but board members and volunteers ramp up planning and organizing final touches through March. The festival has traditionally felt like a concert in the park, Calderon said, but this year, he’s aiming for something that feels more like a block party. “We’ve been able to kind of rethink and recalibrate and recoup what the festival could be … which keeps it alive and vibrant,” he said. 
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Trinity Pride treasurer Julian Rangel added that this year’s festival is intended to be more community-oriented and immersive in the Near Southside, located southwest of downtown.  “We’re trying to expand it to something that’s a little bit more immersive, and helping out the businesses in the communities that support us as LGBTQ people and kind of give back and show them like, ‘Hey, you’ve been supporting us. We’re here to support you,’” Rangel said. One detail that will look different for those who have attended previous years is the location. Construction on Magnolia Avenue, where the event typically takes place, has forced organizers to move the festival deeper into Near Southside on South Main Street.  Henderson said she’s proud that the Near Southside will continue hosting the festival, noting that the event is both economically beneficial to the neighborhood and a core part of the community’s identity. “The idea that the queer community is also welcomed here is just part of a really big legacy of the Near Southside being a space where everyone finds a way,” Henderson said. “If you can find a way to be kind to each other, if you can live the life you want to live and pursue it wholeheartedly in ways that do not harm someone else, there is room for you here in the Near Southside, and that’s kind of always been the marching orders.”Rangel and Calderon declined to share specific details about the festival lineup, promising to share updates as the event nears. As he prepares for his first time at the helm of Trinity Pride, Calderon said attacks on LGBTQ rights happening across Tarrant County, Texas and the nation are top of mind. He has concerns about the political climate and potential attacks on the event “of course,” but he’s not afraid — in event planning, he’s used to preparing backup plans. For now, festival planning is “full steam ahead.” “The idea that we as queer people, not just a Pride festival but we as queer people, are just going to go away, disappear, step back into the shadows — that’s not happening,” Calderon said. Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org or @bycecilialenzen. Disclosure: Megan Henderson serves on the Fort Worth Report’s reader advisory council. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.