Mary's (Houston)

Last updated
Mary's
Mary's (Houston)
Address Houston, Texas
United States
Coordinates 29°44′41″N95°23′33″W / 29.744840°N 95.392485°W / 29.744840; -95.392485

Mary's, originally called Mary's, Naturally and sometimes referred to as Mary's Lounge, was an iconic gay bar located in the Montrose neighborhood in Houston, Texas, in the United States. [1] The bar opened in 1968, and by the time of its permanent closing in November 2009, it was the oldest gay bar in Houston and one of the oldest in Texas. [2] In addition to being one of the most popular and well-known gay bars in Montrose, Mary's was a hub for gay political activism. In 2011, OutSmart said that the bar "anchored" Houston's gay community in Montrose during its nearly forty-year history. [1]

Contents

Description

In its early days, Mary's employed go-go boys, and originally featured a neon sign that read "Mary's Lounge" in the front of the building, which was gone by 1979. Early advertisements also referred to the bar as "Mary's, Naturally". [2] Mary's included a jukebox and its bar tops were decorated with pictures of its patrons. Mary's also included a backyard patio and garden, known as the Outback, that had been planted in remembrance of HIV/AIDS victims; the profits from vegetables grown in this garden, along with drag queen tips, were often donated to charity. A statue of an angel, which had been there since the early days of the bar and which artist Steve Swoveland restored, stood inside Mary's and became a centerpiece for those paying their respects to the victims of the crisis. Mary's became a landmark and catered to virtually every aspect of the LGBT community. [3]

History

Opening

Mary's was opened in 1970 at the corner of Westheimer and Waugh Drive in the Montrose neighborhood of Houston, Texas. Montrose was at that time becoming a prominent gayborhood in Houston, and was the first gay bar to open on a main road, as well as to have windows.

In November 1969, Joe Anthony bought the property, which was at the time named Tommy's Lounge. The bar was owned by the widow of Tommy Musselwhite, herself also named Tommy. Joe Anthony owned the vending machines in Tommy's Lounge. One night, having spied the antique cash register, Joe asked Tommy how much she would sell it for. She $6000, but Joe could have the bar to go along with it. After finalizing the deal, Joe's son Mike reportedly said, "Well, Mary, now that you own the place, what are you gonna call it?" And Mary's Naturally was born. [4] In January, 1974, Joe Anthony sold the bar to Jim "Fanny" Farmer. Cliff Owens became co-owner sometime in the late 1970s. [1]

In Mary's early days, it became tradition for patrons' underwear to be hung from the rafters, until the state health department required the bar to take them down in the late 1980s. Unlike other local gay bars, Mary's never adopted a dress code. The bar also adopted a cat mascot, which they named Mr. Balls, after he began living in the area around the bar and fell out of a tree outside. Mr. Balls was given his own bar stool at the main table. [2] In 1978, the bar's license to sell alcohol was revoked by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission due to continuous code violations, including the sale of alcohol to minors, but acquired it again shortly after by listing Farmer as a business partner instead of an owner. [2]

June 20, 1980 police raid

At that time, police raids on gay bars were common. One well-known raid occurred in the early morning hours of June 20, 1980, as patrons celebrated Houston Gay Pride Week's third annual pre-opening celebration in Mary's. For the third year, the Houston Police Department raided a bar the week prior to Pride. In 1979, the police once again raided Mary's, and in 1978, the raid occurred at The Locker. [5] Some subsequent raids were actually marked as a Pride Week event, with customers showing up just to be a part of the raid. [2]

1980's Houston Gay Pride Week was slated to be held from June 20 to June 29, and one scheduled event was a softball game between the Houston Police and Fire Departments and the Montrose Sports Association. According to the HPD, undercover agents had been sent to the bar after receiving civilian complaints of "lewd actions" [2] and public intoxication. Agents had been inside the bar since about 10:30 p.m. and had witnessed "illegal activities". [2] Shortly after midnight, at 12:05 a.m., HPD and the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission entered the bar and arrested 61 people. Among those arrested were Mary's owner, Jim Farmer, who was also one of the Gay Pride Parade's Grand Marshals [5] for 1980 and his assistant manager, Andy Mills. [2]

Assistant Police Chief Tony Mitchell stated that the raid's timing with Gay Pride Week was "coincidental and unfortunate," [5] although the raid sparked complaints and accusations of police harassment from the LGBTQ community. Witnesses at the bar said police arrested people indiscriminately, and that the crowd considered starting a riot akin to Stonewall. Farmer stated that most of those who had been arrested were not drunk and complained of previous police harassment at Mary's, and Mills recalled having seen patrons lined up against the wall and loaded into a non-ventilated police van; another witness said some of those arrested were assaulted by police and "put in on top of one another." [2] News sources speculated that the TV cameras that arrived shortly after the raid began had been arranged or tipped off, and HPD Police Chief B.K. Johnson was not in Houston at the time of the raid. One news source, KPRC-TV, said the incident "damaged relations with the police and the gay community". [2]

Closing

In 2002, Mary's closed for a brief time due to financial issues. However, the bar was able to stay open after it was purchased by Michael Gaitz. Its grand re-opening was held on January 12, 2003. [2]

Mary's closed permanently in November 2009 after a long decline in attendance and financial issues, at which point it was the oldest gay bar in Houston and one of the oldest in Texas. [2] Mary's customers began a group on Facebook to attempt to salvage and preserve furniture and other parts of the bar; [6] after Mary's closed, looters periodically broke into the bar and stole the remaining furnishings. The property was bought by owners of a newly constructed neighboring restaurant, Anvil Bar & Refuge, in 2011. While a small shed at the back of the property was condemned and demolished, the back lot and main building were spared. [7] The building was reopened in 2012 as a coffee shop named Blacksmith, while its back patio and lot were turned into a parking garage for neighboring businesses. The Gulf Coast Archive and Museum keeps a few Mary's artifacts on display. [1]

Place of gay rights activism

Political activism

In “The History of Gay Bathhouses,” Allen Bérubé writes “In a nation which has for generations mobilized its institutions toward making gay people invisible, illegal, isolated, ignorant and silent, gay baths and bars became the first stages of a movement of civil rights for gay people in the United States." [8] Mary's Naturally was that bar in Houston. During the ownership of Fanny Farmer, Mary's moved from being a popular hangout to being a hub for gay rights activism and organization in Houston. Farmer frequently and financially supported the Gay Political Caucus (GPC) in Houston. He supported and participated heavily in Gay Pride Week. According to gay activist, Ray Hill, in 1980, the early planning of the Kaposi Sarcoma Foundation, the precursor for the AIDS Foundation of Houston, happened in Mary's. [9] Later Mary's owner, Cliff Owens said in a 2002 interview, “Farmer was politically astute, and Mary’s became the place where gay men organized themselves…“The gay community’s roots are right here, in this room, in this building." [9]

HIV/AIDS epidemic

During the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Mary's became an epicenter of fundraising efforts, as many of its oldest customers became victims. One of Houston's first HIV/AIDS advocacy groups, the KS/AIDS Foundation, was established at a meeting at Mary's. In its backyard, trees and shrubs were planted in memoriam of HIV/AIDS victims, and some deceased patrons had their ashes scattered there. [2] Mary's also held memorial services for the bereaved, which numbered around 300. [10] One estimate by bar regular John Paul Jones said patron deaths sometimes averaged three per month. [2]

These memorials and interments of remains took place in Mary's Outback, the back patio area at Mary's Naturally. Unfortunately, this site has now been paved over as a parking lot for a coffee shop, without a dedicated plaque or historical marker to commemorate those in the community who lost their lives in the AIDS epidemic.

This list is by no means exhaustive and was generously compiled by Brandon Wolf and the Houston ARCH Project, archived by JD Doyle's Obituary Project [ [11] ]:

1. Baldoso, Manny

2. Bartlow, Mitch

3. Beauregard, Gary

4. Braswell, Russell Wayne - 'Pinky Flashwell'

5. Burroughs, Jack

6. Buschlen, John

7. Cayton, Jerry Brock

8. Davis, Marvin – 'Lady Victoria Lust'

9. Denning, Lee

10. Denton, Carl Jr.

11. Dunwoody, Dennis

12. Farmer, Jim – 'Fannie' (urn buried in Out Back mound, marked by Sugar Maple tree)

13. Gray, Bill

14. Harris, Floyd - 'Shorty' (near big Live Oak, middle of west side)

15. Lampkin, Paul

16. Liddel, Tommy – 'Torchy Lane'

17. Lippert, Lief

18. Livingston, Rita (Hibiscus was planted, but remains went to Flagship Pier)

19. Lococo, Vince

20. Kennedy, Robert - 'Ethel'

21. Mathis, Judy

22. McAdory, Michael 'Mac' Houston

23. Miesch, Mike

24. Millen, Michael Joseph

25. Parks, Randolph (shot glass of Smirnoff released with balloons; memorial plant)

26. Phillips, John Paul

27. Roberts, Carol Lea 'Carolyn'

28. Roberts, Jerry

29. Robinson, Tim

30. Rujous, Frank - 'Rita Charles'

31. Ryan, Chuck

32. Schall, Don (ashes planted with white Crepe Myrtle tree in Out Back)

33. Sebastian, Nate

34. Smith, Marc

35. Smith, Terry

36. Sommers, BJ

37. Saylors, Michael

38. Unknown, Parker (marked by tombstone)

39. Unknown, Unknown ('Mad Madge')

40. Wadford, Tony – 'Eartha Quake'

41. Warren, Billy

42. Wenckus, Jon (purple Dendrobium Orchid sprays tied to balloon releases)

43. Williamson, David Earl - 'Meg'

44. Woods, Don

45. Christofoletti, Gary Pat

&. Numerous Other Houston GLBT Community Members (estimates are between 200 and 300)

Pets

1. Farmer, Jim - German Shepherd 'Sam'

2. Roberts, Carol Lea - Several Pets

3. Scott, Doug ('Dog Lips') - Dog

&. Numerous Other Pets

A cylinder-shaped time capsule is also buried in Mary's Outback, placed there in the 1970s by the Houston Motorcycle Club.

When Farmer died of AIDS in 1991, Gaye Yancey and Terry Smith adopted his share of the bar. Farmer was cremated and his urn was buried in the back lot of Mary's, under a tree. [1]

Murals

Between 1990 and 1999, gay artist Scott Swoveland painted more than 500 scenes on the four-paneled Plexiglas front window once per week, portraying events, advertisements, tributes, and other scenes. Swoveland, who had been hired as a barback, was asked by the owner to paint the murals. His designs each took one full day to create. The Houston Police Department sometimes called in with complaints against his often suggestive designs. During the AIDS epidemic, Swoveland worked to create more jovial, upbeat memorials to combat the numerous deaths and memorial services within Houston's LGBT community. Other scenes on the outside walls portrayed Janis Joplin, a memorial to a former owner's German Shepherd, and a false window depicting the inside of the bar. [1]

His most famous mural was painted in 1997 on the outside east wall. This mural portrayed a scene inside Mary's with bar regulars, including Swoveland; the bar's cat mascot, Mr. Balls; and two anonymous gay lovers as the centerpiece. This mural became a landmark for the Houston LGBT community. [1] In 2006, the east wall mural was painted over with a scene depicting a blue sky, but it was restored in 2011 by an effort led by local artist Cody Ledvina after Mary's closing. [12] The effort used the image of the cat, the only part of the original mural to be preserved, and a projected image of the original mural to trace and paint the mural onto the wall. The mural was vandalized within 12 hours of being painted, but it was quickly restored. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Houston Gay Pride Parade</span> Annual LGBT event in Houston, Texas, US

The Houston Gay Pride Parade is the major feature of a gay pride festival held annually since 1979. The festival takes place in June to celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies. This event commemorates the 1969 police raid of the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street in New York City's Greenwich Village neighborhood, which is generally considered to be the beginning of the modern gay rights movement. Protests against police harassment in Houston also helped bring about the parade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Cat Tavern</span> LGBT historic site in Los Angeles, California

The Black Cat Tavern is an LGBT historic site located in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. In 1967, it was the site of one of the first demonstrations in the United States protesting police brutality against LGBT people, preceding the Stonewall riots by over two years.

Queer Liberaction (QL) is a Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas-based grassroots organization advocating for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights. The group was founded in November 2008 following the international attention surrounding California's Proposition 8, which changed that state's Constitution to deny marriage rights to any LGBT couples who are not defined as "a man and a woman", passed by a slight majority. The organization is a proponent of same-sex marriage rights for LGBT couples, considering civil unions and domestic partnerships as less than full equality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Houston GLBT Community Center</span>

The Houston GLBT Community Center was a community center for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies in the Houston metropolitan area and southeast Texas. Its last location was in the Dow School building in the Sixth Ward of Houston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birmingham Gay Village</span> LGBT district in Birmingham

The Birmingham Gay Village is an LGBT district next to the Chinese Quarter in Birmingham city centre, centred along Hurst Street, which hosts many LGBT-friendly businesses. The village is visited by thousands of people every week and has a thriving night life featuring clubs, sports bars, cocktail bars, cabaret bars and shops, with most featuring live entertainment including music, dancing and drag queens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBTQ culture in Houston</span>

Houston has a large and diverse LGBT population and is home to the 4th largest gay pride parade in the nation. Houston has the largest LGBT population of any city in the state of Texas.

New York has a long history of LGBT community building, activism, and culture which extends to the early history of the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hyde Park, Montrose, Houston</span> Neighborhood in Houston, Texas, United States

Hyde Park is a historic community located in the Montrose neighborhood of Houston, Texas. Its southeast boundary is the intersection Montrose Boulevard and Westheimer. The neighborhood was established in the late 1800s on the summer farm of the second President of the Republic of Texas, Mirabeau Lamar. In the 1970s, Hyde Park became a central part of the Gay Rights Movement in Houston. Like much of Montrose, the neighborhood is now experiencing significant gentrification, and is home to an abundance of restaurants, including Mexican, Italian, Greek, American, Lebanese, coffee houses, and numerous bars.

Brazos River Bottom, also known as the BRB, was a gay bar located in the Midtown, Houston, Texas, United States, that opened in 1978. At the time of its closure in 2013, it was one of Houston's oldest gay bars, and the oldest still running at its original location.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montrose Mining Company</span> Defunct gay bar in Houston, Texas, U.S.

Montrose Mining Company was a gay bar in the Montrose neighborhood of Houston, Texas, United States. Having opened in March 1978, it was the oldest gay bar in Houston since the closing of EJ's in June 2014. Although it mainly catered to the leather and Levi's subcultures, it was regularly attended by all members of the LGBT community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montrose Center</span> LGBT health organization in Houston, Texas

The Montrose Center is an LGBTQ community center located in Houston, Texas, in the United States. The organization provides an array of programs and services for the LGBTQ community, including mental and behavioral health, anti-violence services, support groups, specialized services for youth, seniors, and those living with HIV, community meeting space, and it now operates the nation's largest LGBTQ-affirming, affordable, senior living center in the nation, the Law Harrington Senior Living Center. It is a member of the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs. It is in Neartown (Montrose).

<i>OutSmart</i> American LGBT magazine

OutSmart Magazine, or simply OutSmart, is a monthly publication serving Houston's LGBT community since 1994. Founded by Greg Jeu, the magazine's outreach has exceeded 200,000 and is distributed at over 350 locations in Houston and Galveston, as well as in Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, El Paso, and San Antonio. Upon its creation, it was the only local magazine to highlight the society, politics, and culture surrounding the LGBT community in Houston, rather than serving as an entertainment guide; most other publications at that time tended to feature sexually-explicit content and advertisements. OutSmart is also certified and verified by the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce as an LGBT Business Enterprise and is audited by Verified Audit Circulation.

Meteor, also known as Meteor Houston, Meteor Nightclub, or Meteor Urban Video Lounge, was a gay bar and nightclub in Neartown, Houston, Texas, in the United States. The bar hosted an annual Mr. Gay Pride Houston competition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eagle Houston</span> Gay bar in Houston, Texas, U.S.

Eagle Houston, also known as The Eagle, is a gay bar in Montrose, Houston, Texas. It is one of many unaffiliated gay bars in dozens of different cities using the "Eagle" name, and caters to the leather and bear subcultures. It sponsors the Mr. Texas Eagle leather competition.

Austin, Texas, has one of the most prominent and active LGBT populations in the United States. Austin was acclaimed by The Advocate in 2012 as part of its Gayest Cities in America, and was recognized by Travel and Leisure as one of America's Best Cities for Gay Travel. Much of Austin's gay nightlife scene is clustered around 4th Street. LGBT activism groups Atticus Circle and Equality Texas are headquartered in Austin.

Just Marion & Lynn's, stylized "Just" Marion & Lynn's, was a gay bar that was opened in 1973 by Marion Pantzer and Lynn Hornaday in the Montrose neighborhood of Houston, Texas, United States. It was one of the first lesbian-oriented bars to open in Houston. The bar closed in 1987, one year after Pantzer was murdered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1977 Houston Anita Bryant protests</span>

In 1977, the Texas State Bar Association invited country singer Anita Bryant to perform at a meeting in Houston, Texas. In response to Bryant's outspoken anti-gay views and her Save Our Children campaign, thousands of members of the Houston LGBT community and their supporters marched through the city to the venue in protest on June 16, 1977. The protests have been called "Houston's Stonewall" and set into motion the major push for LGBT rights in Houston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Hill (American activist)</span> American radio host and activist (1940–2018)

Ray Hill was an American activist for LGBT rights and for police, law enforcement and prisoner issues. An ex-convict, he was also the subject of multiple documentary films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBTQ culture in Baltimore</span>

LGBT culture in Baltimore, Maryland is an important part of the culture of Baltimore, as well as being a focal point for the wider LGBT community in the Baltimore metropolitan area. Mount Vernon, known as Baltimore's gay village, is the central hub of the city's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities.

The Village Station police raid was a police raid that targeted the Village Station, a gay bar in Dallas, Texas, United States. The raid occurred on October 25, 1979, and saw several bar patrons arrested for public lewdness while performing a bunny hop dance. The raid and the subsequent court cases involving those arrested are considered an important moment in the LGBT history of Dallas, with the impact it had on the city compared to that of the Stonewall riots of 1969.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Wolf, Brandon (December 1, 2011). "Mary's Infamous Mural: Iconic Art for an Iconic Bar". OutSmart . OutSmart Media. Archived from the original on August 17, 2016. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "Some Mary's Naturally History". Houston LGBT History. Archived from the original on July 8, 2016. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  3. ↑ "OutSmart Magazine On the Mary's Murals". Houston LGBT History. Archived from the original on 8 July 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  4. ↑ "How Mary's got its Name". Montrose Voice. 28 May 1982. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 "61 Arrested at Mary's". This Week in Texas. 27 June 1980. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  6. ↑ Connelly, Richard (November 3, 2009). "Trying to Save Memories of Mary's". Houston Press. Houston Press. Archived from the original on August 15, 2016. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  7. ↑ Gustin, Marene (May 25, 2011). "Anvil owners buy Mary's property, but Bobby Heugel vows to save site of historic gay bar". CultureMap Houston. CultureMap. Archived from the original on August 15, 2016. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  8. ↑ Allen, Bérubé (1 March 2010). "The History of Gay Bathhouses". Journal of Homosexuality. 44 (3–4): 33–53. doi:10.1300/J082v44n03_03. PMID   12962177. S2CID   143894616 – via Taylor and Francis Online.
  9. 1 2 Matusow, Cathy (26 December 2002). "Zipping Up Mary's". Houston Press. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  10. ↑ Gustin, Marene (March 1, 2011). "Can Mary's, Naturally, Be Saved As A Historic Landmark?". OutSmart. OutSmart Media. Archived from the original on August 17, 2016. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Mary's Naturally Bar - The History". www.houstonlgbthistory.org. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
  12. ↑ Wukman, Alex (July 15, 2011). "Mary's Mural Returns but is Montrose Still the 'Gay-borhood'". Free Press Houston. Free Press Houston. Archived from the original on July 6, 2016. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.