A city-owned water park in Grand Prairie, Texas — funded by a 0.25% sales tax on every resident in town — advertised a “MUSLIMS ONLY” event that explicitly excluded the public from a public facility. Then Sara Gonzales of BlazeTV broke the story, Governor Greg Abbott stepped in, and the whole thing collapsed faster than a Democrat’s alibi.
Imagine a “Christians Only” day at the community pool. Just picture the CNN chyrons.
The event was called the “3rd Annual DFW Epic Eid,” scheduled for June 1 at Epic Waters Indoor Waterpark. It was organized by the East Plano Islamic Center, and the original promotional flyers were crystal clear: Muslim only. Tickets ran $55 a pop. Attendees were instructed to “dress in accordance with Islamic values,” follow a modest dress code, and “practice ḥayāʾ (modesty) through respectful behavior.” There was a separate prayer area. Only halal food would be served. The promotional material even told guests to “Explore our recommendations and get ready to make a stylish – and modest – splash!”
Sara Gonzales confirmed the receipts. “This screenshot came directly from the organizer’s website,” she said. No ambiguity. No misunderstanding. This was a publicly funded facility hosting a religion-exclusive event, and they advertised it that way on purpose.
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Once the story blew up, the organizer — Aminah Knight — started backtracking, revising the marketing to say “Modest Dress Only” instead of “Muslim Only,” as if changing the flyer changes the intent. Dana Loesch, the conservative commentator and radio host, asked the question everyone was thinking: “How is a taxpayer-funded, city-owned entity allowed to discriminate against non-Muslims at a public water park?”
Good question. The answer is: it’s not.
Governor Abbott didn’t wait around for a committee to study the issue. He referenced HB 4211 — the law he signed banning Muslim-only no-go zones in Texas — and had his Public Safety Office fire off a letter to Grand Prairie Mayor Ron Jensen. The message was simple: cancel the event and commit to never allowing anything like it again by May 11, or lose $530,000 in state grants.
Texas State Rep. Mitch Little, who represents District 65, didn’t bother being diplomatic about it. “I mean, this is a law school essay question and not a hard one,” Little said. “You can’t have a Muslim-only event, guys. What are we doing here, Texas?”
The city folded. Grand Prairie canceled the event, with Epic Waters confirming that the June 1 Eid celebration was officially dead. Turns out the threat of losing half a million dollars in state funding has a way of clarifying things.
Blaze News — where Carlos Garcia reported on the story alongside Gonzales’s investigation — deserves credit for putting this on the national radar before it could quietly happen and set a precedent.
Here’s the part that matters: this was the third annual version of this event. That means it happened twice before and nobody stopped it. If Sara Gonzales hadn’t shined a light on it, it would’ve happened a third time at a facility your tax dollars built. That’s the pattern. They push, nobody pushes back, and it becomes the new normal.
Not this time.