Muslim mother's Eid swim party near Dallas draws backlash, cancellation

Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to strip Grand Prairie of about $530,000 in state grants after Dr. Aminah Knight planned the DFW Epic Eid Celebration at Epic Waters Indoor Waterpark.

Knight organized the DFW Epic Eid Celebration at Epic Waters Indoor Waterpark, a city-owned facility in Grand Prairie that can be rented by individuals and organizations. She started the event two years ago to mark Eid. The first year was held on a public day, and last year nearly 600 people attended a private rental for Muslim families.

The 2026 celebration was scheduled for June 1. The original flyer, shared publicly, used the phrase “Muslims only,” though Knight said that wording was not meant to exclude others. She later changed it to “modest dress required” and said friends of different faiths who followed the dress code would be welcome. The dress code called for men to wear swim trunks and shirts and women to wear burkinis.

Questions spread online about whether a city-owned venue could exclude non-Muslims, and Abbott intervened by calling the event unconstitutional religious discrimination. He told Grand Prairie to cancel the event or lose roughly $530,000 in state grants. The city canceled the event after his warning. The city received the governor’s letter on Wednesday and told Knight that night the event was off.

Forty-one Texas lawmakers sent Abbott a letter objecting to his threat, arguing that he was using state financial power to single out Muslim Texans. Knight said the online reaction raised extra security concerns around the gathering. After the cancellation, she still planned to hold a Fourth of July interfaith barbecue.