Houston LGBTQ Chamber event canceled due to executive order
A Greater Houston LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce event that was to be held at the Houston Federal Reserve Bank was canceled two days before the event because of an executive order canceling all DEI activity in the federal government.
About 125 people were registered to attend the Thrive Small Business Summit & Matchmaker and the Chamber had spent thousands on catering and more for the day-long event. “I am incredibly sorry to have to do this, but we are no longer able to host the Thrive event on Thursday.
I am aware this is extremely short notice, and we deeply regret the difficulty this creates for the event,” wrote a federal employee identified only as Chris in an email exchange.
The federal employee offered to help the chamber find an alternative location. Tammi Wallace, co-founder, president and CEO of the Houston Chamber, responded, “I am floored to get this email from you and with no explanation as to why you are stating you have to cancel the event.” “Unfortunately, this evening, we learned that we could not host the event and remain in compliance with the executive order,” he responded, referring to the executive order signed by Trump that cancels all DEI-related events in the federal government. “I apologize.
