Tarrant County commissioners voted along partisan lines Tuesday to reject a resolution honoring the county’s largest health center focused on LGBTQ services.
The resolution was drafted to commend Arlington’s HELP Center for LGBTQ+ Health for “outstanding service, compassionate care and enduring contributions to the health, dignity and wellness of the people of Tarrant County.” In 2025, the center administered more than $70 million worth of medication, clinical services and supportive care to 7,000 patients for free.
The court’s three Republicans — County Judge Tim O’Hare and commissioners Matt Krause and Manny Ramirez — voted against the resolution. Democratic commissioners Alisa Simmons and Roderick Miles were the yes votes.
“There’s more work to be done to let everybody know exactly what we do and not allow people lying about what we do to reach elected officials,” HELP Center CEO DeeJay Johannessen told the Fort Worth Report after the vote.
The decision came after commissioners heard from more than a dozen speakers, the majority of whom spoke about the value of LGBTQ-centered health services and urged commissioners to approve the resolution.
A handful of people testified against, saying the resolution’s adoption would contradict “biblical values.” Those sentiments were echoed by O’Hare and Krause, who jointly introduced a resolution celebrating the 250th anniversary of the U.S. that said the country was founded “in the Judeo-Christian tradition.”
“It’s not the business of the court to put the county’s name and seal behind a divisive social agenda that glorifies a group that supports transitioning children,” O’Hare said. “Our responsibility is to protect children — not sacrifice them in the name of ideological advocacy.”
Before voting, he read aloud a list of events and programming he alleged the center had promoted or hosted, including National Kink Day, International Nonbinary People’s Day and Polyamory Day, plus a fundraising concert to provide grants to transgender people seeking out-of-state healthcare.
Simmons, who introduced the resolution praising the center, said it was “certainly not” about advocating for or supporting medical transition for transgender children.
“This resolution did not ask the court to endorse a political viewpoint,” Simmons wrote in a statement published after the vote. “It asked the court to recognize service, acknowledge results and honor an organization that has improved lives across Tarrant County.”
Simmons and O’Hare are opponents on the ballot in November, running against each other for the countywide judge seat O’Hare currently holds.
Resolutions are statements read aloud during commissioners meetings to ceremonially honor or recognize events, individuals and milestones in Tarrant County. Any commissioner may introduce a resolution, but they require majority approval to be presented to the recipient.
Simmons’ resolution Tuesday commended the HELP Center for preventing an estimated 200 new HIV transmissions annually. It described the center as a “cultural home” for the LGBTQ community, noting that the center also sponsors Trinity Pride in Fort Worth, now the county’s largest Pride celebration after Arlington Pride was canceled in response to the city suspending its anti-discrimination protections.
During the meeting, commissioners unanimously approved six other resolutions, including one that recognized June as Responsible Fatherhood Month and another that honored “grandmother of Juneteenth” Opal Lee and supporters of the National Juneteenth Museum under development in Fort Worth.
Ramirez was absent at the start of the meeting but joined via video call moments before the vote on the HELP Center resolution. His chief of staff, Tracey Knight, said via text message the commissioner is out of town on business and joined the meeting as soon as he could.
Krause thanked speakers for attending — telling audience members he appreciated their signs that read “shame” — but said he ultimately couldn’t support the resolution because the HELP Center offers gender-affirming care.
“While that sounds really nice, I think it actually does more harm than good,” Krause said. “The gender-affirming care piece actually does more harm than people realize.”
The HELP Center does not serve children or offer surgery, Johannessen said. The center doesn’t promote anything other than access to healthcare, he added.
“We don’t promote transitioning or not transitioning,” Johannessen said. “What we promote is access to services and access to care, where you can make the best informed choice for yourself.”
Fort Worth resident Reed Bilz told commissioners about her now-adult transgender son, who left Tarrant County to seek gender-affirming care in California where he now lives.
“These services are needed for disease control and medical assistance to a valued population of our community,” Bilz said. “I fully support the presentation of this resolution.”
David Malone, president of the Mid-Cities Stonewall Democrats, thanked Simmons for her support of the LGBTQ community and urged the other commissioners to join her.
“We want to be neighbors and get along and live peacefully with the conservative Christians, MAGA Republicans,” Malone said.
Chris Cheema, a pastor at Mercy Culture Church, referenced the Ten Commandments monument outside the county courthouse, just across the street from where the meeting took place. Honoring the HELP Center would contradict those commandments, he said, adding a slogan frequently used by members of his church: “It’s not political, it’s spiritual.”
“Every commissioner who votes yes today is not simply endorsing healthcare — they are formally commending an organization that promotes sexual perversion, affirms mental illness as identity and advances the very lifestyle driving the sexually transmitted disease crisis in this country,” Cheema said.
Miles did not speak before voting in favor. Earlier in the meeting, he wished Tarrant County’s LGBTQ residents a “warm and happy” Pride month, which is observed annually in June.
“Tarrant County is a place where every resident, regardless of who they are or who they love, they deserve to feel seen, heard and valued and protected,” Miles said.
Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org.
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