Opinion: Black people are key to Houston’s queer history. It’s time to center them.

Black people have long been at the center of queer history, but we’re often left out of the story. We won’t let that happen nationally or here in Houston. Pride began as a riot. Our heroes and ancestors, Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, both queer women of color, were among the first to throw stones at cops harassing the LGBT community at Stonewall Inn in New York in 1969, sparking the Stonewall riots that inadvertently led to the creation of the first Pride parade the following year. Houston had its first Gay Pride Week eight years later, which consisted of a community picnic and culminated with Town Meeting I, one of the first grassroots LGBT political events in the United States. Many of the LGBT institutions today can trace their beginnings to that time. Grassroots and nonprofit advocacy efforts still continue as groups such as the ACLU challenge Gov. Greg Abbott’s efforts to prevent trans youths from accessing identity affirming health care. When this history is shared, Black queer people’s contributions toward LGBTQIA+ justice often aren’t included or acknowledged, which is why many cities had to create separate Pride celebrations. The Normal Anomaly Initiative’s upcoming Black Queer Plus Advancement Festival this weekend aims to challenge an issue all too familiar to Black queer advocates: Even though we’re present in these white-led spaces, we’re often overlooked. Sometimes, we aren’t even invited. Houston’s Black Gay Pride started from Splash Beach Party, which largely catered to white gay men. As more Black gay men started to attend in the late 1980s, the white community moved to another location. Pride is meant to be not only a celebration but an act of resistance for the queer community, but Black queer people rarely benefit from the power created by a movement we helped start. Dr. Charles Law, who founded the Houston Committee (a Black gay men’s professional organization) and was a co-chair of the executive committee at Houston’s Town Meeting I, is largely overlooked in conversations regarding this pivotal moment in queer history — although his is probably the most recognizable name out of the Black queer people there. In his speech at the 1979 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, Law said, “I am afraid that we will find that those gay people who do not come across as being offensively gay, as militantly gay, obviously gay, adamantly gay, or admittedly gay will be the ones to reap the benefits … and the real sissies and the butch women of this country will still have to live in gay ghettos and not have achieved the true import of this movement.” More than 40 years after that speech, Black queerness is often constrained by living in those gay ghettos. We have not achieved anything substantial from either movement at the intersection of Black and LGBTQIA+ issues. A Center for American Progress study in 2020 highlighted heightened level of disparities in health care, housing and discrimination for Black queer people including a higher incidence of HIV and 34 percent of Black transgender women making less than $10,000 a year. Knowing this inspired me and fellow organizers to create Black Queer Plus Advancement Festival Weekend, beginning April 30. This weekend will be filled with opportunities to simply, yet proudly, celebrate being Black and LGBTQIA+, and it will also have moments for community development, awareness and engagement. Our largest event, the Black Queer AF Music Festival, will have an all-Black, queer and allied performance list headlined by Sevndeep, Durand Bernarr and Dawn Richard from Danity Kane along with locally known talents such as Porsche Paris, ShaunWes, Tre’ Ward and Sissy Nobby. We have found a way to celebrate ourselves while also organizing around building collective power through launching 14 Black and/or queer businesses at the festival. We were intentionally inclusive of the spectrum of Black queerness and have gotten the terrific hosting ability of Krystal Smith, Brandon Sanders and Khaos Talks with sounds by DJ Rocabye. We are making sure we showcase our innate ability to be proud, supportive and forward moving. We will have a reception sponsored by COVID Prevention Network and PrideNet, as well as a Butch Queen’s Brunch curated by Deondre Moore, an HIV prevention activist, and Dwyane Williams, of Mobilizing Our Brothers Initiative, a professional and personal development platform for Black queer communities, held on a rooftop overlooking the city. The Black Queer Plus Advancement Festival Weekend is both honoring and acknowledging the rich history and culture we were brought into, while uplifting those activists, advocates and influencers who are paving the way for us today. Pride began with a riot to start the movement — this year we begin a new tradition with a festival for our advancement. Haddock is the executive director of the Normal Anomaly Initiative Inc. in Houston, a nonprofit organization that envisions the forward mobility of Black, queer plus persons. Its mission is to center Black, queer people to overcome barriers, end stigma and problematic narratives to actualize a new normal.

Opinion: Black people are key to Houston’s queer history. It’s time to center them.

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