Browse Items (33 total)

The Miss Camp America Pageant began in 1969 as a birthday party for Pat Petty. This competition ran until 2006 and included more than 250 members. In 1988, the pageant became a foundation has donated over $1 million in profits to charity, primarily…

The Wagon Wheel was a female impersonation club that opened in 1936. This was one of the first Houston clubs that featured female impersonators. A fire destroyed the club in 1938, which was suspected to be arson.

The Red Room opened in December 1965 and was early prominent bar in Houston. The bar hosted amateur night for female impersonators on Tuesdays. They hosted prominent female impersonators such as Tiffany Jones. The Red Room closed in December 1974.

JR’s Bar and Grill is a gay watering hole located in Montrose. Opened in 1986, it is the oldest bar in Houston that is still operating. The building was originally a train depot, a grocery store, and then an emporium before it became a bar for the…

Rich’s Nightclub was opened in 1983, shut down in 2013, and reopened in 2016 with extensive remodelling. The venue still occasionally has drag shows. Some of the parties that Rich’s used to hold were a garden party, grey party, tea dances, trash…

Pictures from houstonlgbthistory.org of ads and murals from Mary's bar in Houston.

Steve Pena and Adrian of TC's Showbar at Southbeach in Houston, TX

Newspaper clippings detailing the First Texas Gay Marriage between Antonie Molina and William "Billie" Ert.

This is a photo of prominent Houston-area drag queen, Wendy Chicago.

Articles of clothing from the Gulf Coast Archive & Museum of GLBT History [GCAM] Drag Costume Collection and Eartha Quake Closet