Brad Pritchett to Lead Equality Texas as Interim CEO

Brad Pritchett , 44, is well-known in Houston for his activism and advocacy for the LGBTQ community. The Heights resident will be taking on the role of interim chief executive officer at Equality Texas (EQTX) through December 2025 after the recent departure of Ricardo Martinez. With several Texas races and the 2025 Texas Legislative Session on the horizon, Pritchett’s plate will be full and he is more than prepared for the challenge.

“The reason I [originally] came to Equality Texas was because of Ricardo Martinez, our former CEO,” says Pritchett. “Some folks don’t know that Ricardo and I were competitors for the CEO position. The Equality Texas board made the right decision to hire Ricardo. At the Creating Change conference in Dallas, just after he was hired, we met and started to talk. There was zero competitiveness or animosity, and he actually asked if I’d be interested in working at Equality Texas. About a year later, to my surprise, he called me and said, ‘I’ve found the funding to bring you on. Are you ready?’ It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”

After joining the EQTX staff under the leadership of Martinez, Pritchett started as a field director and eventually was promoted to deputy director in 2023. In that role, he helped to create strategy and generate engagement while managing the work being done by the field and government-affairs departments. As the interim CEO, he will oversee every department within the organization and continue creating strategy for statewide work fighting for LGBTQ equality. He will also work closely with the development team to ensure that EQTX has the resources necessary to continue defending queer Texans at the Capitol and across the state.

EQTX has had a few significant victories recently. Lauren Ashley Simmons defeated the anti-gay incumbent, Shawn Thierry, in the House District 146 primary. Simmons, who is favored to win, would add herself to the growing Texas LGBTQ House Caucus.

State Senator Molly Cook in Senate District 15 is another race Pritchett thinks folks should be aware of. Molly won her seat by 46 votes, underscoring how important every vote is—and the hard work she put into meeting so many constituents in the district. This is a Democratic district, and Molly’s election will send the first openly LGBTQ lawmaker to the Texas Senate with the help of EQTX.

When the Texas Legislature reconvenes in 2025 (a biannual event that always puts the LGBTQ community in Texas on edge), Prtichett has a plan.

“We will continue to see a focus on education and health care, specifically targeting transgender Texans,” he says. “Our team has been looking at what is happening across the country, what bills are being filed in other legislatures, what messages are resonating with people, and what we can learn from them. We have already been preparing for the 2025 Legislative Session for months, and I’m confident we will be ready to mount an aggressive defense for queer Texans come January. We will also be pushing a proactive agenda and are aiming to file more than 150 pro-equality bills next session.”

But before the session starts, Pritchett cautions that there are a few important races to watch.

“House District 118 in Bexar County, outside of San Antonio, has Kristian Carranza facing incumbent John Lujan,” he notes. “This race is the most competitive Texas House race in the state, and it has the best chance of shifting that seat from an anti-equality legislator to a pro-equality legislator.

“In the Arlington area is House District 112, where Averie Bishop is challenging incumbent Angie Chen Button. Bishop is a former Miss Texas and is committed to working with the LGBTQ+ community when elected to office.

“House District 63 in Denton County will be a race between anti-LGBTQ+ incumbent Ben Baumgartner and former legislator and member of the LGBTQ+ community Michelle Beckley.

“These House races are important for a variety of reasons, one being how close the Texas House is to passing Governor Abbott’s school voucher scheme. Texas public schools are already underfunded, and for LGBTQ+ teachers and students, private schools lack transparency and accountability when facing issues of discrimination.” Pritchett emphasizes.

Although Pritchett will be spending more time in Austin, don’t expect him to be entirely absent from the city he calls home.

“The level of care that Houstonians have for each other is one of the things that makes us unique as a city,” he says. “We have power outages and hurricanes and wind storms and floods, and you will always see people helping their neighbors. After the last hurricane, the Montrose Center was gathering and distributing supplies to anyone who needed them, not just LGBTQ+ Houstonians. Our people are resilient, are fighters, and are fiercely protective of one another—and that’s especially true for the LGBTQ+ community.”

For more info, visit equalitytexas.org.