1979 houston gay dance club numbers

W hen people look back on the gay-rights movement of the s, they tend to think in terms of New York City and San Francisco. But Houston was just as active in the last half of that turbulent decade. There were no marching bands, floats, or banners, and most of the participants had been recruited during the previous year by pioneering Houston activist Ray Hill.

A Brief History of Houston Pride

On Sunday, June 26,a crowd of about 60 gathered in the parking lot of the Exile, a gay bar at Bell Street. One of the participants was Annise Parker, a young lesbian activist who would one day become mayor. As the marchers progressed, onlookers who joined in from the sidewalks began to swell their ranks to as many as Hill and others quickly organized a candlelight protest.

Participants wearing black armbands with inverted pink triangles gathered for gay rally in the parking lot of the Depository II bar on McGowen, and then headed downtown. The Houston Police Department had prepared for people, but more than 4, joined the protest. They marched around the Hyatt Regency 1979, the site of the banquet, and then to a rally in the plaza of the Houston Library.

A few numbers later, with a newfound sense of purpose and solidarity, the community staged its first Houston Pride Rally in Cherryhurst Park. We cannot open the door to some minorities while denying access to others. And on Easter Sunday, a small pool party was hosted by friends at a local apartment complex—a festive social event that would eventually become Bunnies on the Bayou.

ByHouston had a cohesive LGBTQ community with a public face and a political agenda, so an annual June celebration during Pride Month was both needed and desired. Hansel was known in the community for her love of drag shows at The Old Plantation bar, which she often attended with her gay son.

The club was led by a group of male and female motorcyclists, dance their unmuffled engines. According to the Houston Voicean estimated 10 to 12 thousand people lined Westheimer, and a rally followed at Spotts Park with 5, people enjoying music, speeches, dancing, and fireworks. With the establishment of Pride parades came another tradition—police raids on gay bars in the weeks leading up to the June events.

Several Houston city officials rode in convertibles in the parade, with an estimated 20, people lining the streets. Eat Me! On August 12, thanks to the efforts of transgender pioneer Phyllis Randolph Frye, the Houston City Council repealed a long-standing City ordinance that criminalized cross-dressing.

The Spotts Park rally became a post-parade staple that drew an increasing number of public officials. The rally also included an annual Fred Paez Memorial Concert. Pride Week continued to grow, with a larger budget, more parade entries, and bigger crowds. The Montrose Mining Company outdid its construction-vehicle float entries of the previous two years with a huge cherry-picker that hoisted flag-waving men high over the parade crowd, with dry-ice clouds enveloping them at regular intervals.

The parade had 52 units and lasted 90 minutes. The organizing committee moved the post-parade rally to the Summit basketball arena and hired Tina Turner to entertain. Just prior to the parade, 58 Ku Klux Klan members from Pasadena held a minute march through Montrose.