The pro wrestling world will descend on Dallas this weekend as WWE’s flagship event WrestleMania comes to the Lone Star State. Alongside WWE, major names in pro wrestling like Ring of Honor, New Japan Pro Wrestling and Game Changer Wrestling will trek below the Mason-Dixon line for four days of nearly non-stop wrestling action.

But, as recent years have shown, you can’t have a major wrestling weekend without a Big Gay Brunch.

EFFY’s Big Gay Brunch, one of the highest-profile events focused on LGBTQ empowerment and showcasing LGBTQ talent, is back for its fourth installment in Dallas. Previous brunches delivered memorable moments since its 2020 debut, from Dark Sheik and Edith Surreal’s technical masterpiece, to Parrow’s various battles through waves of twinks, to stunning main events featuring Pro Wrestling Vibe founder Billy Dixon and beloved LGBTQ wrestling figure Jake Atlas.

The Dallas edition will include a number of those same names alongside a growing number of debuting and emerging talents from across and beyond the United States. Among those ranks are legendary exotico Pimpinela Escarlata, Spanish technical mastermind Carlos Romo, “The Protagonist of Pro Wrestling” Kidd Bandit, reigning Without A Cause heavyweight champion and, per EFFY himself, king of the West Coast Keita, and perhaps the most well known non-binary trans masc wrestler going today, Max The Impaler.

But the action in the ring is only part of the Big Gay Brunch’s message of empowerment.

Similar to previous editions of the Big Gay Brunch and EFFY’s pro wrestling apparel brand Wrestling Is Gay, Big Gay Brunch Dallas also serves as a fundraising event for local LGBTQ advocacy groups.

Saturday’s event specifically will raise money for the Transgender Education Network of Texas, an organization focused on furthering gender-diverse equality in the state, joining Pro Wrestling Vibe and Industrial World Wrestling as pro wrestling brands to donate to the organization this month.

“Going into Texas, I’m real fired up to raise even more money to send as a ‘fuck you,’ and as a ‘thank you’ to people who are having to live through this,” EFFY said on Outsports’ LGBT In The Ring podcast. “What a magic fucking concept that we can go out as independent performers, without leashes on us, and be able to do something as silly as pro wrestling, in its truest form, and give back in a real way to people.”

The decision to support TENT comes as a direct response to a directive from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott last month that pushed for the state’s child protection agencies to classify providing gender-affirming care to trans minors as “child abuse.” Enforcement of the directive was temporarily blocked by a federal judge as legal proceedings continue, but the situation is still creating, as EFFY puts it, “a validating environment for people who are full of hatred.”

“When they can point to legal doctrine that says these people aren’t supposed to be allowed to live the way they are living, it’s bullshit,” EFFY said. “They play the game in this world, in all of our worlds, with this fucking currency and capitalism and the best thing we can do right now, whether it’s legal or being overturned, is to put money into the hands of the people on the ground doing the work.

“We look out for each other, we look out for others and, when we have a cup that overfloweth, we do not let it spill. We make sure you get a taste.”

EFFY’s Big Gay Brunch airs live Saturday, April 2, at 12pm ET/9am PT on FITE as part of GCW’s The Collective.

Check out the full interview with EFFY on the Outsports podcast LGBT In The Ring. Download and listen to new episodes every Thursday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and all other podcast services.

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