Ahead of Saturday’s Henderson Pride Festival, one of Southern Nevada’s largest LGBTQ+ pride organizations announced it was cutting off any association with Henderson Pride after the event’s founder and president was seen lashing out at a go-go dancer in a video that circulated on social media.
In an Instagram post Tuesday, the LGBTQ+ advocacy nonprofit Las Vegas PRIDE said it was “formally ending any past or perceived association with Henderson Pride” and Anthony Cortez, the now former president of the organization behind the Henderson event, which took place Saturday at the Water Street Plaza.
“In light of recent actions by Henderson Pride President Anthony Cortez, Las Vegas PRIDE will not participate in, support, or collaborate with Henderson Pride moving forward,” the post said. “Our community already faces ongoing challenges from external forces, and it is essential that we also uphold accountability and respect within our own spaces.”
For his part, Cortez has stepped down and has apologized.
“I deeply regret my actions and take full responsibility for my behavior,” Cortez said in a Monday letter announcing his resignation as president of the nonprofit ICME (International Cultural Movement for Equality) Foundation, which organizes the Henderson Pride Festival.
The dancer, Luis Araya, said in a phone call Friday that Cortez pulled him while he was dancing on an elevated platform on April 26 while performing at Dust Las Vegas, near East Twain Avenue and University Center Drive. Araya also shared surveillance video from the bar that he said was from the incident, which showed a man quickly approaching Araya and pulling the dancer off the platform by his clothes.
Video taken by a bar patron showing a different angle of the exchange depicts the man ripping a mask off of Araya’s head before getting in his face, yelling obscenities and threatening him.
Araya on Friday identified the man in the video as Cortez. Cortez in a separate call Friday told the Las Vegas Review-Journal he was the one seen being “verbally aggressive” and taking the mask off of Araya.
“I’ve been working in performance for like five or six years, and this has never happened to me,” said Araya, who said he was a former employee of Cortez. Araya added he is in the process of seeking a restraining order against Cortez and was also unsure why the exchange even happened in the first place.
“I’m still processing it,” he said. “(But) what I’ve felt from the LGBTQ community here in Vegas is that everybody’s on my side, so I do feel really safe.”
Cortez said that, after the incident, he was given a misdemeanor citation by the Metropolitan Police Department.
“Metro simply gave me a misdemeanor citation,” Cortez said. “(People) are making it a lot more than it is.”
Saturday’s event ‘was a good day’
On Saturday, the third annual Henderson Pride Festival went on as planned in downtown Henderson.
Lionel Stewart, a member of the executive committee for the festival, said it was important to go on with the event, though Cortez is no longer with the organization.
“Anthony got into some trouble, and I feel like everybody knows that at this point, but we didn’t want the community to suffer for that,” Stewart said. “There’s a lot of people who don’t even know who Anthony is, so to not have a Henderson Pride because of his actions, that wouldn’t have been right.”
Stewart said close to 100 people came out for part or all of the pride event, which featured music, vendor booths, food trucks and other live entertainment acts.
“It went way better than I expected, actually,” Stewart said as he helped to wind down the festival at about 4 p.m. on Saturday. “We didn’t know if anyone would show up, but people came out, vendors showed up and a lot of other supporters came out. I would say it was a good day.”
With Cortez out, Stewart said it was still too early Saturday to know who will lead the organization going forward.
“It turned out to be more of a statement than an event,” Stewart said. “We haven’t met as a group since Anthony left, so I have no idea what the next steps will be. It depends on if someone is courageous enough to step up and take over.”
Araya, meanwhile, said he wished the city would distance itself from Cortez and the organization he used to run.
Henderson’s public information office said Friday it does not have an official partnership with the ICME Foundation, the Henderson Pride Festival or any affiliates.
After Cortez’s departure from the Henderson Pride Festival, the city said it voided the previous rental contract agreement and entered into a new agreement with current ICME Foundation leadership for facility use.
Contact Casey Harrison at charrison@reviewjournal.com. Follow Casey_Harrison on X. Contact Bryan Horwath at bhorwath@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BryanHorwath on X.
