Bastrop County Conservatives PAC, Pride group denounce calls for business boycotts

An Instagram account posting under the name of a Bastrop political action committee called on its followers to boycott several local businesses for their involvement with the city's LGBTQ+ community, resulting in condemnation from Republicans and a strengthening moment for Bastrop Pride.

Bastrop County Conservatives, the PAC whose name has been used in Instagram posts pushing back on local drag-inspired events, said the social media account's use of its name created confusion about the origin of the boycott requests.

“The statements posted on this other Instagram account were not from our group and do not conform with our views or values," Mel Cooper, a founding member of Bastrop County Conservatives, said in a news release last week. "We asked that they remove our name from their Instagram page to avoid further damage to our reputation."

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Listed as bastroptxconservatives, the account is still using "Bastrop Conservatives" in its profile, which the PAC is seeking to stop as it owns that name registration in the county, Cooper said.

As for Bastrop Pride, a group aiming to bring awareness and visibility to the LGBTQ+ community in Bastrop County, the boycott and cancellation efforts were mostly lip service.

In June, the account asked that followers protest a drag variety show set to be held by Pride at the Pine Forest Golf Club in Bastrop. The performance was cancelled due to backlash the business received and the event location was shifted multiple times before the show was able to go on later in the month.

A drag-themed story hour held at the Painted Porch Bookshop in Bastrop in July was also a target of protest. In an email response to the Bastrop Advertiser, bookstore owner Ryan Holiday said the event was meant to promote tolerance and that customers that take issue with the event are welcome to shop elsewhere.

"In fact, part of what convinced us of the necessity of doing this was the attempt a few weeks earlier to use boycotts to pressure businesses in Bastrop to kick PRIDE out of their venues," Holiday said.

Besides having to find new venues for its drag show, organizers said there has been no impact to the pride group or local businesses that previously supported or began supporting Bastrop Pride in recent months.

"They lumped in other businesses that we've never worked with, and who are now supporters of ours," said Brett Douglas, chairman of Bastrop Pride. "We have conservative allies, so those are the people we work with. And like I said, maybe two or three people are making all this racket and it's not affecting us at all."

The Bastroptxconservatives Instagram account has not responded to multiple requests for comment.

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"I really appreciate the Bastrop conservatives coming out and saying, 'Hey, we're not affiliated with this Instagram page,' but this Instagram page has been around for a long time and I find it very hard to believe that the Bastrop conservatives are unaware," Douglas said.

Despite pushback, Douglas feels that the community's pulse toward Pride is better exemplified by the town's homecoming parade, in which the LGBTQ+ group participated with a float and ran out of pride flags along the parade route.

"The conservative town we live in has indicated to us that we are welcome, we are loved and they need us," Douglas said.