On August 26th, 2025, the Harris County Commissioners’ Court held a public hearing to discuss various agenda items, including one highly questionable expenditure that spurred a great deal of controversy. In fact, the public’s angst over the proposed expenditure was evident during the public comment period.
At issue was the appropriateness of a sponsorship for the Gay Softball World Series hosted by International Pride Softball from September 21st – 27th.
One citizen voiced his concerns (3:00:01 mark) over the proposed funding, saying:
“The softball tournament that is proposed for funding is not responsible government. I did some research, and this group has fifty-five member cities. Last year’s World Series had fifty-two cities send teams. These are adults at an average of 13 people per team, 676 participants, divided by the $468,610. That’s $693 per participant. They stay at nice hotels in the Galleria area. They raised nearly $104,000 on their own. Any given weekend in this town you see tournaments, and none of them have municipal funding.”
Another citizen shared similar sentiments (3:02:11), saying:
“‘I know not what others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death,’ said my great-uncle, Patrick Henry. Taking out other people’s money in the storm of taxation to pay for the luxury of other people is a theft of my liberty. This is crazy, spending over half a million dollars of taxpayers’ money for a softball tournament and for a special interest group at that? [For] people to play in sports, they should pay their fair share themselves.”
“No telling where this group will escalate,” she continued. “They should get things for free at the cost of others, the idea that it will bring money to Harris County does not hold up. The money it does generate would not go to taxpayers anyway. If you want to give my money to restaurants, bars, and hotels, I am free to do that without the government forcing me to do so. Neglecting the statutory requirements of law enforcement, flood prevention, and road maintenance can lead to death. Not playing in a softball tournament does not lead to death. Thank you.”
Later in the meeting, Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia attempted to justify hosting the softball tournament by explaining how much money Harris County will make (8:35:11) from having the tournament in Houston.
“Just to welcome our visitors on September 22nd,” Commissioner Garcia stated. “That’s when the tournament will be held, and I know some folks came up and spoke about the investment I’m making on this, using my HOT (Hotel Occupancy Tax) tax money and some of my general fund. But just as an example of—and the reason this came up was, again, the state tried to pull the rug from under them. But over the years, the state has reimbursed similar events, like $1,000,008 for a boxing event, over $600,000 for a video game tournament, $40,000 for a—I forgot how it was pronounced—quidditch cup, which was the Harry Potter thing, where people run around with brooms on this event. $2.9 million for a bitcoin convention—and twice they have supported this same event to the tune of almost $1 million. So, I’m glad that we’re participating in this event as well, and again, looking forward to welcoming these thousands of people to Houston, where they’re going to spend money on hotels and food, so thank you.”
Simply because government might make money on account of some public subsidy does not in-and-of-itself make it a prudent use of tax dollars. In fact, there are many money-making ventures where government doesn’t belong, either for constitutional concerns, ideological reasons, or as a matter of commonsense.
In this instance, the weight of substantive remarks against subsidizing the Gay Softball World Series seems be a good indication of the broader public sentiment and the suitability of such a proposal. It’s worth elevating this issue since it may not be exclusive to Harris County. In fact, the consideration or provision of this type of subsidy could very well be commonplace in county commissioner courts, meaning that, for now, it’s up to everyday citizens be vigilant and call attention to it where it does exist. Hopefully, at some point in the future, the Texas Legislature will revisit the hotel occupancy tax and its many questionable uses, so that some better safeguards can be instituted, at
