Category Archives: Gay Houston
Houston Texas Gayborhood Montrose
After recent shootings and killings in the gay neighborhood MONTROSE, in Houston Texas, locals are fighting back.
The LGBT community has had enough. MyFoxHouston.com reports:
Their signs made the message clear. It’s time to “take back Montrose.” Brad Janacek organized dozens of concerned Montrose residents Friday night to peacefully protest at the intersection of Westheimer and Montrose. They’re asking The Houston Police Department for more police presence in the area. “We’re fed up as a community and I don’t live here anymore because of the crime,” said Janacek. …
Protester Bobby Lowe thinks the LGBTQ community should be worried and not just about these latest violent incidents, but about a perceived uptick in car burglaries and thefts.
“I think it’s about gay people being targeted. They’re coming here for a reason and the reason is because gay people, [criminals] feel like their easier targets,” said Lowe.
Police plan to increase their presence – while most of Houston does not seem to really care and no one has reported on the upswing of shootings, except Fox.
Ru Pauls Drag Race Tour
IT’S ABOUT TO GET REAL BITCHES!
RuPaul’s Drag Race Battle of The Seasons “Condragulations” Tour in a city near YOU, featuring a night of show-stopping performances by the world’s most talented drag performers, including winners and fan favorites from Logo TV’s hit series “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”
Over 40 cities in the US, Canada and Europe. The largest drag tour in history!
Adore Delano, Alaska 5000, Ben Dela Crème, Bianca Del Rio, Courtney Act, Darienne Lake, Detox, Ivy Winters, Jiggly Caliente, Jinkx Monsoon, Manila Luzon, Pandora Boxx, Phi Phi O’Hara, Raja and Sharon Needles. Plus Special Guest Cary NoKey and host Michelle Visage. (Lineup varies by city and is subject to change.)
February 1-April 13, 2015. CHECK CITIES AND TICKETS!
Gay Pride 2014 is Coming ! To a City Near You!
GAY PRIDE IS COMING! Over the next 6 months, gay prides will be happening coast to coast!
PHOENIX PRIDE April 5-6, 2014
MIAMI PRIDE April 11-13
TOKYO PRIDE April 27rh
SAO PAULO PRIDE May 4th, 2014 – the BIGGEST in the WORLD
NEW JERSEY PRIDE June 1st, 2014
LOS ANGELES PRIDE June 6th-8th
MILWAUKEE WI Pride June 6th-8th
CAPITAL PRIDE DC June 6th-8th
DETROIT PRIDE June 7th-8th
HONOLULU PRIDE June 7th
PHILADELPHIA PRIDE June 8th
BOSTON PRIDE June 8th-16th
KEY WEST PRIDE June 11th-15th 2014
NASHVILLE PRIDE June 12th-14th
SITGES SPAIN PRIDE June 12th-16th
PITTSBURGH PRIDE June 14th-15th
BERLIN PRIDE June 14th-15th
OSLO PRIDE June 20th-29th
HOUSTON GAY PRIDE June 20th-29th
TORONTO PRIDE June 20th-29th – BIGGEST in NORTH AMERICA!
PLUS in 2014, Toronto will actually be WORLD PRIDE with even BIGGER crowds
RHODE ISLAND / PROVIDENCE PRIDE June 21st
NEW YORK CITY PRIDE June 24th-29th
TAMPA FL PRIDE June 27th-29th
PARIS PRIDE June 28th
LONDON PRIDE June 28th
MINNEAPOLIS PRIDE June 28th-29th
CHICAGO PRIDE FEST June 21st – 22nd
(they are trying to fill in the days in between to make a full week of pride)
CHICAGO PRIDE June 29th
SEATTLE GAY PRIDE June 29th
MADRID PRIDE July 2nd-6th
COLOGNE GERMANY PRIDE July 6th
SAN DIEGO PRIDE July 18th-20th
STOCKHOLM PRIDE July 28th – Aug. 2nd
MONTREAL PRIDE July July 28th-Aug. 3rd
AMSTERDAM PRIDE August 1st-3rd – with floats on the canal!
ANTWERP PRIDE August 4th-11th
REYKJAVIK PRIDE August 5th-10th
CHICAGO MARKET DAYS – August 9th-10th (not really pride – but a big party!)
OTTAWA PRIDE August 15th-24th
PRAGUE PRIDE August 11th-17th
COPENHAGEN PRIDE August 26th-31st
ATLANTA PRIDE August 27th-Sept. 1st
SOUTHERN DECADENCE – August 27th-September 1 (not really pride – but a big party)
LAS VEGAS PRIDE September 2nd-8th
AUSTIN TX PRIDE September 20th
DALLAS PRIDE September 21st
MAUI HAWAII October 4th-5th
GAY PRIDE is a time of celebration and with that, usually comes some drinking. MAKE SURE YOU DRINK WATER AS WELL! Keep yourself hydrated! You don’t want to go to the hospital with your boa and go go shorts on! (poor guy!)
Houston Employees Win Battle for Benefits
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Texas face legal challenges and discrimination not faced by other people.
– Just last week a gay couple was pulled from the dance floor of the Cactus Canyon and told that club policy prohibits gay couples from dancing to
country music. Justin Meyer, 21, and James Douglas, 30, had already
danced several songs without incident, but a manager intervened when the
music switched to Dustin Lynch’s “Cowboys and Angels.”
But when the city of Houston tried to ignore Federal law and denied spousal benefits for LGBT couples, Mayor Annise Parker spoke up and victory prevailed.
Lone Star Q reports:
U.S.
District Judge Lee Rosenthal considered the request after the case was
moved from state court to federal court by the defendants — Mayor Annise
Parker and the city of Houston.
Harris County GOP Chair Jared Woodfill, on behalf of taxpayers Jack Pidgeon and Larry Hicks, sued
Parker and the city in December after she extended benefits to the same-sex spouses of city employees who are legally married in other states.
State District Judge Lisa Millard, a Republican, issued a
restraining order halting the benefits, before the city moved the case
to federal court, where Woodfill sought another restraining order.
Following a lengthy hearing on Thursday afternoon in Houston, Rosenthal
denied the request.
Houston and Dallas Texas Gay and LGBT Events in October
Saturday Oct. 8, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Sycamore Heights Bed & Breakfast, 245 W 18th St. Details. Sunday, Oct. 9, 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Jones Plaza, 600 Louisiana Ave. Details. Saturday, October, 8, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Cherryhurst Park, 2601 Windsor St. Details. Out & Equal Annual Summit: 25-28 October in Dallas, USA. The Summit boasts more than 2,300 attendees who participate in more than 125 workshops and caucuses all designed to create an inclusive workplace. The Summit justly deserves its international reputation as the premier conference on LGBT issues in the workplace. Outandequal.org/annual-summit
People from across Texas and beyond will converge in Houston this October to celebrate National Coming Out Day with several key events.
The weekend of October 8 and 9 will be packed with celebrations geared toward every taste. And it’s a great time of year to visit the nation’s fourth-largest city.
THEN IN DALLAS –
BestGayCities.com
Houston Residents Jason and DeMarco to Open Gay SAFE House
If you have followed Jason and DeMarco , the gay christion pop singers, than you know about their vision of S.A.F.E.
Jason says, “Last year a young man who I had been emailing with had been struggling after “coming out of the closet”. He had been kicked out of his home and was going from friend to friend, sleeping on their couch. He finally ended up with a friend who told him that he could stay there as long as he needed to. Unfortunately, a month later, that same friend of his emailed me letting me know that this young man had taken his own life and that she wanted me to know how much he had said that I meant to him. I knew in that moment that “IT IS TIME”.
The longtime Houston residents have had a vision for a non-profit organization that would help kids who have been kicked out of their homes, or who were in foster care because of being kicked out or rejected by their own parents, or perhaps were aging out of the foster care system and had no support and nowhere to turn.
After moving to Houston I saw the need for an organization like this more than ever before and it fueled my dream. That dream is finally being realized with the launching of our new non-profit S.A.F.E. (Safe, Affirming, Family Environment).
We officially received 501(c)3 non-profit status on June 22, 2010 and are in full force preparing and planning for the work that S.A.F.E. is to do. By January 1st 2011, it is our intention to open the very first “Safe Spot” in Houston which will provide a drop-in and resource center for “throw-away” youth and young adults who will be offered snacks, coffee, clothes, books and a computer station.
It is also our intention to begin forming a community of house parents and ‘Safe Houses’ who are willing to offer transitional housing to GLBTQ young adults and ‘Safe Houses’ run by foster parents currently certified through Child Protective Services or those wishing to get certified to foster GLBTQ kids. Our intention with the homeless community is to encourage GLBTQ kids to enter the Foster Care system and educate them on the benefits offered to them by the state, knowing that they will be placed with a GLBT friendly foster home found through our organization.
If you are interested in joining our online community, please visit Safe House For All . Our goal is to start with Houston and then help other cities create “Safe Spots” and form S.A.F.E. communities locally with S.A.F.E.’s mentorship and guidance.
We filmed a new music video to our song ‘Safe’, the title cut from our latest CD, also entitled “Safe (W/Dvd) “. We are in post-production with the video and are planning to release it by the end of the year. We believe that this video is powerful and is going to put a face to the issues that the organization S.A.F.E. is striving to bring to peoples’ awareness. Our hope is that we will strike a chord with talk show personalities who help get the mission and need for S.A.F.E. out there to America!
This new venture is going to take much time and energy, and with us beginning a family, it is the perfect opportunity for us to make this our focus while taking time off of the road to adjust to parenthood. Many of you have been along with us on our journey from the very beginning and we are so excited to get to share this next chapter with you.
We cannot do this alone. There are kids out there who need us. They are all OUR kids! So please visit Safe House For All to read more about our mission, our vision and be a part. We currently have a donor who is willing to match funds up to $25,000. We have raised $30,000 to date and our intention is to raise $100,000 by the end of the year so we can begin the work in the New Year.
deMarco and I will continue recording and releasing new music and we will continue touring occasionally through most of 2011. Please share S.A.F.E. with anyone you know and join our online community by visiting the website.
Together we will create a world where EVERY heart has a home!
Stay Tuned!
We have also launched a new online Radio Program called “The SAFE Spot”.
Tune in for updates on S.A.F.E. and the work that we are doing by visiting “The SAFE Spot Blog Talk Radio”.
Gay Houston Lesbian Mayor Annise Parker Brings Strength To This Texas City
Hopes to Help Turn Houston Into
a Gay Hot Spot.
Houston voters made history last December, electing the first openly gay mayor of a major U.S. city. Annise Parker, 53 leads the nation’s fourth largest metropolis.
As the fourth-largest city in the nation, MY GAY HOUSTON’s LGBT scene remains as diverse and vibrant as its more than 5 million residents. Its blend of world-class culture and an anything-goes attitude make this city on the bayou a great getaway for the discerning gay traveler.
From the pedestrian-friendly Montrose neighborhood to downtown and the historic Heights, Houston has something for everyone, all seven days of the week. Read on for picks on where to be and what to see..
The city launched a campaign titled “My Gay Houston,” featuring gay Houstonians in print advertisements and on a newly-revamped website, as their latest effort in a years-old gay campaign. For some time now, Houston has been trying to promote themselves as gay-friendly and gay-welcoming. Hopefully with Annise at the helm of the city, this campaign will get a boost.
Greg Ortale is CEO of the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau. In an interview, he readily admitted that the city’s efforts to attract the gay and lesbian market had “clearly benefitted” from the election results.
“Whether in good economic times or bad, you want [gay and lesbian] travelers in your city,” Ortale told EDGE. “To assume we’re going to ignore a major traveling market is ludicrous. It doesn’t make a difference to us.
“We’re proud of what our city offers in arts, sports with our food scene and retail. We can back up our destination against anybody else’s.”
Despite pockets of liberal tolerance such as Houston, Dallas, Ft. Worth and Austin, Texas ranks relatively low for gay rights. Its state constitution specifically bans same-sex marriage.
Regardless, Houston’s marketing team seems committed to its gay-friendly stamp. The tourism board continues its collaboration with the community’s LGBT organizations. More news from Houston soon!
Best Gay Cities
New Gay Travel Guides
Houston Becomes Biggest US city to Elect Openly Gay Mayor
Houston became the largest U.S. city to elect an openly gay mayor, with voters handing a solid victory to City Controller Annise Parker after a hotly contested runoff.
Parker defeated former city attorney Gene Locke with 53.6 percent of the vote Saturday in a race that had a turnout of only 16.5 percent.
“This election has changed the world for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community. Just as it is about transforming the lives of all Houstonians for the better, and that’s what my administration will be about,” Parker told supporters after Locke conceded defeat.
Parker, 53, has never made a secret or an issue of her sexual orientation. But it became the focus of the race after anti-gay activists and conservative religious groups endorsed Locke and sent out mailers condemning Parker’s “homosexual behavior.”
BEST GAY CITIES
