Buddy’s Gay Bar displays a large rainbow Pride flag towards the ceiling of their establishment.

The LGBTQ+ of Houston and UH

Over a million same-sex couples live together in the same household, according to the 2019 census. That means that over a million people identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community.

That phrase is thrown around a lot — LGBTQ+ community. But, what does it mean?

The definitions

LGBTQ+ is an acronym that stands for; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer, with the “+” sign encompassing all other community members who don’t fit within the acronym (people who identify as asexual and pansexual, for instance).

To dig into it a bit more, a lesbian person is a woman who is sexually attracted to a woman, a gay person is someone who is sexually attracted to men. Bisexuals are attracted to both men and women, and queer is a more encompassing term of the three groups.

Transgender however, is the one identifier that doesn’t define sexual attraction. This term means that someone who was born as one gender, does not identify as that gender and would rather identify as another gender. A prominent pop culture example of a transgender person is Caitlyn Jenner, from “Keeping Up With The Kardashians.”

The people

All these identifiers can become generalized though, becoming simply a label rather than actually being a part of an individual’s identity.

Bianca Chandwani (she/her) speaks about her experience coming out as bisexual.

Sydney Rose is a bisexual, and her story is a lot like other peoples.

“My journey to being bi was pretty unexceptional. I kind of always knew I was attracted to everyone, but there was that typical ‘do I want to be her or date her’ thought that I feel like is common with young queer girls where I was confused on what it meant to be attracted to everyone because there was only ever completely straight representation in media or completely gay, no in between,” Rose said.

“Now, I’m pretty comfortable in my sexuality and am able to talk about it with others and express myself,” Rose said. “I think that is the most advanced I’ve been since figuring out what my sexuality means.”

The community

Rose is one of many students who are a part of the LGBTQ+ community at the University of Houston. The school happens to have its own center for queer students, called the “University of Houston’s LGBTQ Resource Center.”

Juliann Losey, who uses they/them pronouns, is the Gender and Sexuality Program Manager at the center. They spent the month of June commemorating pride month.

“Organizations around UH have participated in virtual Pride sharing on social media. Since Houston Pride will be happening later in the year at a date yet to be announced, we will promote and support the Houston area Pride Events as we are able as well,” Losey said. “As always, the LGBTQ Resource Center is the UH hub for Pride-year round, so we encourage students to stop by.”

The center also has a wide array of resources, according to Losey. “The UH LGBTQ Resource Center is a safe, comfortable space for students to hangout and meet people. We also have lots of things available in the Center, including a full lending library of books and DVDs about a variety of LGBTQ+ topics and content, identity pride and pronoun pins, and condoms,” Losey said.

“Our website has information about our upcoming events and resources around campus, such as our Speakers’ Bureau and Mentor Program. We have regular social spaces for LGBTQ+ students called Rainbow Chats that are currently on our Discord Server, but will be soon happening in person once again as well,” they added.

One of the resources the center offers though, isn’t just for LGBTQ+ community members — it’s for the people who know others who identify as LGBTQ+.

The center offers an “Ally Training”. LGBTQ+ organization, GLAAD says that allies “are some of the most effective and powerful voices of the LGBT movement. Not only do allies help people in the coming-out process, they also help others understand the importance of equality, fairness, acceptance and mutual respect.”

But the resource center isn’t the only place where students can find a community. Gay and lesbian bars also serve as a place of bonding and LGBTQ+ upliftment.

Houston drag queen, Muffy Vanderbilt III, performs her first act of the Themed Drag Queens night at Buddy’s Gay Bar- a community space for LGBTQ+ young adults of the city (left). Guests at the bar watch drag queens perform while enjoying drinks and conversation and participating in the act being performed (middle). The Buddy’s bartender preps a set of drinks for the performers to sip on after finishing their set. Buddy’s tends to hire community members as employees and bartenders (right).

Muffy Vanderbilt III, a Houston drag queen, poses with her microphone after opening the night (left). Buddy’s resident dog, “Buddy” sits and looks up at his owner while drag queens perform through the night (middle). Awdasity, a Houston area drag queen, performs “Singing in the Rain” while dressed in flowers. They had just come straight from their day-job as a waiter before coming to perform at Buddy’s. (right)

Awdasity, a drag queen, hits a high note while performing “Singing in the Rain” for Buddy’s Theme Queen’s drag show (left). The bartender closes someone’s tab as the bar fills up for a hectic night of interactive drag performances and dancing (right).

Buddy’s Gay Bar is a Montrose bar with drag shows and parties at least twice a week. Christopher Barry is the owner and founder of the bar.

“We really needed a space in Houston where our community members could be proud, and I saw a gap that needed to be filled,” Barry said about starting Buddy’s.

“The bar also became a safe space for LGBTQ folk, serving as a voting center during the 2020 election and even throwing a big COVID safe party for pride month in June,” Barry added.

With such a fruitful community and support, the LGBTQ+ community is stronger and prouder than ever.