Media + News Spotlight
Color Splash Out™ has been featured in local, statewide, and national media for creating safe and brave spaces where LGBTQ+ teens and their allies can build community, joy, and resilience. News outlets have highlighted our camp experience and our commitment to youth belonging—especially in a time when many families are seeking affirming spaces for their young people.
San Francisco Chronicle — “Three days at a safe place for LGBTQ kids in Texas…” (Aug 29, 2024)
Color Splash Out is featured in the San Francisco Chronicle in a reported-on-the-ground story that follows three days at camp and shows what it looks like when LGBTQ+ kids can simply exist—swim, do crafts, share cabins, and use restrooms without fear. The piece highlights Color Splash Out as one of only a few LGBTQ+ summer camps in Texas, notes the safety steps the camp takes (including keeping its location private), and centers the camp’s founding and leadership by Yadi Martínez-Reyna, who created the camp in response to growing anti-trans hostility in the state.
Women Photograph: 2024 Year in Pictures
Color Splash Out is recognized in Women Photograph: 2024 Year in Pictures through a powerful image by photojournalist Salgu Wissmath, showing campers returning to their cabin after a day at the lake alongside their house leaders. The caption highlights Color Splash Out as one of the few LGBTQ+ summer camps in Texas—an affirming place where young people can feel safe, seen, and unafraid during a time when many families have been pushed to leave the state due to attacks on gender-affirming care.
The Texas Observer — “Pride and Prejudice in Princeton, Texas” (Nov 12, 2024)
Color Splash Out is featured in the Texas Observer’s “Pride and Prejudice in Princeton, Texas” as the organization that stepped in to organize Princeton Pride 2024 after Princeton Texas Diverse was barred from renting school facilities. The story explains that Princeton ISD initially approved Color Splash Out’s application for a June 29 Pride event at Lovelady High School, then later canceled it and ultimately voted to ban Color Splash Out from renting district property—actions the ACLU of Texas challenged as discriminatory and a pretext to shut down LGBTQ+ visibility.
Another LGBTQ+ group alleges discrimination from Princeton ISD
Color Splash Out is featured by KERA News in coverage of a new ACLU of Texas complaint alleging that Princeton ISD discriminated against the organization by banning Color Splash Out—and its founder, Rev. Yadi Martínez-Reyna—from renting school facilities or serving as a vendor on district property. The story explains that the ban followed the district’s cancellation of Princeton Pride 2024 at Lovelady High School, and highlights the ACLU’s argument that the district’s actions unlawfully restricted protected free speech and expression.
LGBT Groups Barred From Pride Over Book Ban In TX School District: Now The ACLU Is Stepping In
Color Splash Out is featured in Erin in the Morning as one of the LGBTQ+ organizations the ACLU of Texas says was unlawfully targeted by Princeton ISD when it was blocked from hosting a Pride event on school property. The article explains that Color Splash Out planned an all-ages Pride gathering and intended to keep vendors PG-13+, but the district still issued a sweeping ban—an action the ACLU argues amounts to viewpoint discrimination aimed at silencing LGBTQ+ community events.
ACLU files complaints against Princeton ISD, accusing it of discriminating against LGBTQ groups
Color Splash Out is featured in WFAA’s coverage of the ACLU of Texas complaint accusing Princeton ISD of discrimination after the district blocked a Pride event from being held on school property. The story specifically names Color Splash Out and its founder, Rev. Yadi Martínez-Reyna, as targets of the complaint and summarizes the allegations that the district’s actions unlawfully restricted LGBTQ+ community expression.