Greg Abbott threatens city if they don't cancel 'unconstitutional' Muslim-only day at Texas water park

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is demanding that the City of Grand Prairie cancel a “Muslims only” event scheduled at a city-owned water park, warning local officials they could lose more than $530,000 in state grant funding if the event is allowed to move forward.

In a post on X, Abbott wrote that a city-owned facility had “openly advertised a ‘MUSLIMS ONLY’ event” and called the situation unconstitutional. "A city-owned water park in Grande Prairie openly advertised a ‘MUSLIMS ONLY’ event -- closed to the general public,” Abbott wrote. “That’s religious discrimination. It’s unconstitutional.”

Abbott added that he had signed HB 4211 into law, which he said bans “Muslim only no-go zones” in Texas. “I signed HB 4211 into law -- banning Muslim only no-go zones in Texas,” Abbott wrote. “The City must cancel the event and commit to never allowing something like it again by May 11th, or lose $530,000 in state grants.”

He continued, “Let this be a lesson to local officials: Facilities funded by ALL taxpayers are not just for a subset of Texans.”

The pushback comes after an event called “DFW Epic Eid,” planned at Epic Waters Indoor Waterpark in Grand Prairie. According to a letter sent from the Texas Governor’s Public Safety Office to Grand Prairie Mayor Ron Jensen, state officials became aware that the event was being publicly advertised as restricted based on religion.

The letter says promotional materials described the gathering as a “Muslim-Only Event,” “For Muslims Only,” and “Closed to the Public – Muslims Only.” State officials noted that organizers later changed some of the language to say “All Are Welcome,” but argued the restrictions remained functionally religious in nature.

“The first hint that the broader public is not really welcome, however, is language explaining that any women wishing to attend must wear ‘burkinis,’” the letter stated.

The governor’s office also cited language from the organizer’s website saying the event was “closed to the general public” and that attendees were required to “dress in accordance with Islamic values.” The letter added, “The entire waterpark has been exclusively reserved for Muslims.”

Officials argued that because Epic Waters is owned by the City of Grand Prairie, allowing the event to proceed could amount to unconstitutional religious discrimination. “An event at a city-owned pool that was publicly and indiscriminately advertised as ‘Whites only’ would surely violate the Constitution,” the letter said. “The same must be true here.”

The Public Safety Office informed city officials that Grand Prairie is currently receiving multiple grants from the state and could face consequences if it does not comply.

“This letter serves to notify you that the PSO considers the City to be in breach with respect to all grant agreements between the City and PSO for Fiscal Year 2026,” the letter states.

Grand Prairie has until May 11 to confirm in writing that the event will not take place on city-owned property and to commit to never allowing a similar “Muslim only” event in the future. Failure to do so, the state warned, “may result in PSO exercising its sole discretion to terminate all grants between PSO and the City.”