Is the Dallas Gayborhood Gettg Uptown Funked? | Dallas Observer

Contents:

• DALLAS’S GAYBORHOOD IS MAKG A POST-PANMIC COMEBACK. MANY LGBT PEOPLE STILL DON’T FEEL WELE.
• GET TO KNOW OAK LAWN, DALLAS’ INIC GAYBORHOOD
• TOP THGS TO DO AROUND DALLAS' GAYBORHOOD
• ARE HIGH-RISE BUILDGS UPTOWN-FUNKG UP THE GAYBORHOOD?
• BT GAY CLUBS DALLAS
• OAK LAWN DEVELOPMENTS COULD PRERVE DALLAS’ GAYBORHOOD
• THE “GAYBORHOODS” OF TEXAS
• DALLAS' OAK LAWN 'GAYBORHOOD' BE FIRST TEXAS TO GET STATE HISTORIL MARKER

DALLAS’S GAYBORHOOD IS MAKG A POST-PANMIC COMEBACK. MANY LGBT PEOPLE STILL DON’T FEEL WELE.

Faryn Schwartz has lived the Dallas-Fort Worth area for more than 40 years, and has seen untls women go to bars that ter to gay men the neighborhood for a wi variety of reasons. “I do feel like there is some sort of judgment even wh our own muny among gay men to lbian women or gay men to trans or bisexual people. Some people go to gay bars out of their own ner cursy for a eper reason, and e out later on, ” she says.

GET TO KNOW OAK LAWN, DALLAS’ INIC GAYBORHOOD

Around the time she opened Sue Ellen’s, Jack was workg as a manager at the Village Statn and says that the gay bars were mostly set up to ter to cisgenr men.

TOP THGS TO DO AROUND DALLAS' GAYBORHOOD

Most of De La Rosa’s events wh Special K Productns take place outsi of the Dallas gayborhood, wh the tent to brg LGBTQ events to people who aren’t close proximy to Oak Lawn and Cedar Sprgs. “It’s all about givg them the same platform that we give to gay men, ” De La Rosa says. You won’t see walls becked wh photos of shirtls men or bumper stickers wh nuendos referrg to gay sex, but stead, rabow motifs and bright lights signed to cultivate a sense of welens for those who enter the bar.

ARE HIGH-RISE BUILDGS UPTOWN-FUNKG UP THE GAYBORHOOD?

Wh a queer-iendly athetic, as well as regular events like drag bgo and “Hawt Gurl Summer” parti, Roy G’s manager Jam Keenan hop this environment will attract people all over the LGBTQ spectm, as opposed to exclively cis gay men. Dallas, once the epome of social nservatism, holds now one of the largt gay ncentratns the US. Home to a vibrant gay muny, Dallas ranks number 8 among the natn’s most gay-iendly ci.

For nearly 30 years, trendy Oak Lawn neighborhood has been the epicenter of Dallas’s gay life.

BT GAY CLUBS DALLAS

Gay-iendly rtrants, bars, f, and nightclubs will help you make an ia of what Big D’s gay scene is all about.

One of the biggt spots is the Round Up Saloon, nomated as one of the top gay bars the world by TripOut. No vis to Dallas is plete whout a day spent shoppg at “The Strip”, Dallas’s gay mercial Mec. Loted at the tersectn of Cedar Sprgs Road and Throckmorton Street, this is one of the noisit and popular gay mercial districts the untry.

OAK LAWN DEVELOPMENTS COULD PRERVE DALLAS’ GAYBORHOOD

One event you should fely attend is The Dallas Gay Pri – one of the biggt gay pris the southern half of the Uned Stat.

THE “GAYBORHOODS” OF TEXAS

And when ’s time to play, watch out—you’ll likely fd partyg up at the Crossroads, AKA the tersectn of Throckmorton Street and Cedar Sprgs Road at the heart of our own Oak Lawn gayborhood. Ined, I was young and naive back the mid-1990s, but spe beg warned that some Dallas gays were snobs, I managed to fd a tribe of lifelong iends and chosen fay, a partner of two-and-a-half s, and a nng bar tab that’s probably hoverg somewhere around $300, 000 (and untg). In fact, wherever you fd me the ‘hood, I’m typilly acpanied by a healthy dtg of glter, the latt on-trend cktail, and a soundtrack fueled by pop divas—and that’s jt when visg my chiropractor or droppg off shirts at the dry GayborhoodSure, I’ve wnsed first-hand the chang Oak Lawn and the surroundg areas have gone through over the years, but at s re, much has stayed the same.

DALLAS' OAK LAWN 'GAYBORHOOD' BE FIRST TEXAS TO GET STATE HISTORIL MARKER

Though we’re probably never gog to see that same kd of hey-gurl hay day ever aga, we still have 24 waterg hol across North Texas wh 17 sttered about the gayborhood.

Across the street, untry wtern dancg (cludg lsons) is the claim to fame of Round-Up Saloon & Dance Hall, a sprawlg venue wh multiple bars and a separate karaoke parlor near the entrance—not to mentn once beg voted the bt gay untry wtern dance hall the entire US of A. Outsi the gayborhood, out gay chef Abraham Salum’s namake Salum Rtrant offers exquise fe dg.