In a letter sent Wednesday, Governor Abbott told to cancel the private Eid al-Adha event scheduled for June or lose $530,000 in state grants
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas — The city of Grand Prairie canceled a private rental marking a religious holiday under pressure from Governor Greg Abbot, who called it unconstitutional religious discrimination after initial marketing for the event said it was “Muslim only.”
The “Epic Eid” event scheduled for June 1 at the city-owned Epic Waters was designed for families to celebrate Eid al-Adha in a waterpark environment where everyone in attendance was dressed modestly, organizers said.
A flyer for the annual event, which was first held in 2024, initially described it as “Muslim only,” said Aminah Knight, who organized the event. After the flyer started to generate controversy, she changed it to say “modest dress required.”
The flyer specifies men must wear swim trunks and shirts, and women must wear “burkinis.”
The city initially said it was working to ensure all policies and procedures were followed with the private rental, but pulled the plug on the event Wednesday evening after Governor Abbott threatened to pull $530,000 in state public safety grants unless it was canceled.
“That’s religious discrimination. It’s unconstitutional,” he said of the event on X. “Let this be a lesson to local officials: Facilities funded by ALL taxpayers are not just for a subset of Texans.”
Knight said she was informed by water park management of the cancellation Wednesday night. The city declined to comment further.
“I’m sad. I’m sad that something that was being done with such good intention, just for joy, has been turned into something that it’s not,” she said. “God knows I was just trying to plan something for my community within my community just like I did last year – why it turned it with this, I don’t know.”
She said it has been a painful experience, but that “my faith is not something to fear.”
Knight called it a “wake up call for how much work we have to do as Muslims to help the wider American people know who we are.”
She said she plans a Fourth of July interfaith barbecue to advance that goal.