I’m also within walking distance to the George R. Baldwin is also convenient to Houston’s extensive underground tunnel system (approx. the Mother of Houston), a super cool lobby lounge with a solar system-esque chandelier, the Rosalie Italian Soul restaurant from Top Chef Masters’ Chris Consetino, and guestroom views of Houston’s sprawl, the C. Contemporary and chic, with nods to local history (the name references Charlotte Baldwin Allen, a.k.a. ( where disco diva Gloria Gaynor, of “I Will Survive” fame, headlines the party’s entertainment. I arrive in Houston during the pretty darned gay (in more than one respect) grand opening weekend for downtown’s newest hotel, the 354-room C. To get the scoop on the latest LGBTQ news and scene happenings (and drag shows), check out the 26-year-old, monthly OutSmart Magazine ( and its constantly updated website, as well as website My Gay Houston ( from the city’s official tourism office, Visit Houston ( Meanwhile, be sure to consider visiting during annual events Houston Pride ( which is scheduled to take place in the fall of 2020 (specific dates TBA), the African-American and Latino Houston Splash ( set to celebrate its 21st Anniversary in late April 2021, LGBTQ film festival, QFest (and parties thrown by community fundraising entity Bunnies On the Bayou ( Blackberri Indeed, diversity and progressiveness is key to Houston’s appeal for me, and likely a pleasant surprise to the first time visitor. You never know what you’re going to get, which makes Houston so special.” “Dallas is know for pageant drag, which is beautiful, and Austin for alternative drag, which is artistic, but here you can go to a show and see an AFAB (assigned female at birth, but possibly tran or nonbinary-identified) performer, a bearded queen, a national titleholding queen, and a goth queen all at the same bar in the same cast.
“Houston is the perfect melting pot of all different styles of drag,” Vallier opines. He describes Blackberri as “a Disney Villain with the heart of gold,” and created the character in 2016 for a 10-week local drag race competition. “I love that Houston has so many opportunities for entertainers to express their art in any form,” Vallier tells me.
#HOUSTON GAY BARS AND CLUBS FULL#
That night I return to the Eagle for a full immersion in Houston’s LGBTQ present, with a bar crawl and performance by one of the area’s most beloved, impossible-to-miss drag personalities, Blackberri ( The alter-ego of Louisiana native Darius Vallier, Blackberri numbers among the small but noteworthy (and international) population of bearded drag queens which includes Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst, Berlin’s Bambi Mercury, Montreal’s Anaconda La Sabrosa, and Portland’s Diana Fire. Other areas of the Eagle bear collages of vintage Houston LGBTQ newspaper and magazine covers, content, and advertisements (some for rather seedy, long since shuttered bars), which is also the handiwork of Doyle: check out his website, for a near exhaustive collection of timelines and archival material including photos and video. On the wall opposite the timeline, one of gay artist Scott Swoveland’s famed murals depicts a scene from Mary’s, a legendary Houston bar that between 19 served as an invaluable social, organizing, and resource hub, especially during the worst years of the AIDS crisis. The lesson concludes with the 2010 win of the Mayor’s office by openly lesbian candidate Annise Parker who served three terms until 2016, and the huge nationwide success of Marriage Equality in 2015. Also covered that evening was the 1991 gay bashing of local Paul Broussard whose murder led to a high-profile case, protests, and conviction, which the 2015 documentary The Guy With The Knife ( revisits. Doyle has assembled a small group of visiting queer journalists who look above at an illustrated timeline that stretches from one end to the other, marked by national and Houston-specific milestones, starting with the 1950s formation of the Mattachine Society and 1969’s Stonewall Riots. In the Eagle’s second floor bar space, LGBTQ historian J.D. ), in the city’s nearby, leafy “gayborhood” of Montrose, is an integral part of The Bayou City’s LGBTQ timeline and as well as a still buzzing, multilevel drinking and dancing destination. Despite its world-class Museum District, the Eagle Houston (611 Hyde Park Blvd.
Houston’s Art Gallery Scene Is Prolific With Several Gay-owned Spaces Worth Stopping ByĪ leather bar isn’t the first venue I’d expect to serve as classroom for a gay history lesson, but that’s exactly how they roll in Houston, Texas.