HCPDO Celebrates Pride 2026
By Cassandra Casados-Klein, Communications Specialist
Pride Month is a celebration of the contributions LGBTQ+ people have made to our communities. While often celebrated through parades, festivals, and displays of community, at its heart, Pride is about something much deeper: the right of LGBTQ+ people to live openly, safely, and with dignity.
That dignity has not always been protected. Throughout American history, LGBTQ+ people have faced criminalization, discrimination, and violence simply for existing. Here in Houston, the LGBTQ+ folx have helped to shape the culture and character of our city.
The legacy of those policies continues to shape who comes into contact with the criminal justice system today. For example, research from the Prison Policy Initiative shows that LGBTQ+ youth are significantly overrepresented in both homelessness and the juvenile justice system.
40% of [unhoused] youth [identify as] LGBT. Stigma, conflict or a lack of acceptance at home drive many LGBT youth onto the streets — funneling many of them into the juvenile justice system, where 20% of the population identifies as LGBTQ.
Wanda Bertram, Prison Policy Initiative, 2024
At the Harris County Public Defender's Office, we see firsthand the barriers the LGBTQ community face while navigating the criminal justice system, particularly the additional challenges our trans clients experience in police custody. From being isolated in solitary confinement to facing threats of violence from fellow inmates, trans individuals have continued to be marginalized.
Transgender people are especially at risk for contact with the criminal legal system and, once in detention, at risk of harassment and violence inside prison. According to a 2022 survey of LGBTQ+ people in the United States, 31 percent had been in some form of incarceration at some point in the last five years.
The Vera Institute of Justice and Black Pink National, 2024
As we recognize Pride Month, the Harris County Public Defender’s Office honors both of these truths. We acknowledge the systems and prejudices that have disproportionately harmed LGBTQ+ people, while also celebrating the resilience, creativity, and love that flourish despite such adversity.
Because, in the face of these challenges, there is nothing more urgent than freedom—regardless of your identity or whom you love.