"When the HRC/Showtime grant came up, I was hopeful. She also sold T-shirts and steaks to-go to bridge the funding gaps.įinally, a big break arrived when Mabry heard about a grant in partnership with the Human Rights Campaign and Showtime. Mabry started a GoFundMe, which provided a liferaft of more than $40,000 in donations from across the country. Thankfully for Mabry and her bar, help arrived to save her business and the safety it provides to the lesbian community. I was applying for help, but it was a mess." It got to the point where I thought I would lose Pearl. But I didn’t realize this would be a year," she said. For the first couple of months, it was scary, and I was concerned. I thought it was going to be three weeks to maybe, worst case, three months. "When the pandemic first hit, I told the staff we might have to close for a bit. It isn't hard to imagine the fear that crept in once the pandemic decimated the service industry across the nation, especially for bars as unique as Mabry's. Texas boasts only two lesbian bars, with the other one located in Dallas. Now, there’s only 21 left in the United States," Mabry said. In the late '80s to early 2000s, Houston had two or three lesbian bars.
I would go to other lesbian bars and see what guests would drink, what the bars would do to keep women safe, the music, and everything around that. I worked in the service industry, waited tables and learned customer service. I became obsessed with having my own lesbian bar, and I studied the bar business my entire life. Also, if you felt attraction to someone, that might cause conflict because they might be straight. "I’ve been to straight bars, and the men hit on you, and that felt uncomfortable. Places specifically geared toward women in the LGBTQ community are a rarity even though they provide a place for women to feel they can be themselves. Houston has a plethora of LGBTQ bars, yet they are mostly male-centric. I love the dynamic of it and the community," she said. My life's goal was to open a lesbian bar because there was never a place for lesbians to go. She was defiant, and people weren’t as understanding about being gay as they are now. The reason is because my sister had struggles in her early life, and a lot of that was her feeling not included or not normal. "Even in high school, I became involved with The University of Texas at San Antonio’s LGBT groups just to be involved in the community. That experience planted the seed for Mabry, who started to recognize there was something special - almost sacred - about having safe places like LGBTQ-friendly clubs and bars for likeminded people to gather. From that point, I became observant about the community." She was around her community, and that was her place. At the time, I couldn’t explain it, but I could tell she felt safe. When we went to the Bonham Exchange in San Antonio, it was the first time I saw my sister come into herself. Years later, when I was about 16, I started going to the clubs with her. "My sister, who is three years older than me, started coming out and hanging around her gay friends when she was about 14 years old. By that time, I couldn’t really define it, but I was attracted to girls when I was getting into my teenage years," Mabry recalled. "We moved to San Antonio when I was in 7 th grade. To understand the significance of Pearl Bar, though, one must first know Mabry's own story and how it shapes her view of the bar industry for LGBTQ folk. Through hard work, community support, and a bit of luck, Pearl Bar - Houston’s only lesbian bar - has indeed come out on the other side and returned to happier times. But if Mabry can forge her way through life as a proud lesbian and become sober for more than eight years, she knew she had it in her to fight and preserve her business. And no thanks to the pandemic, Mabry’s bar faced the very real possibility of closing. They both developed addiction habits which wreaked havoc on their lives. She and her sibling both came out of the closet in the '80s when homosexuality wasn't very accepted. These are their stories.įor Julie Mabry, owner of Pearl Bar at 4216 Washington Avenue, the struggle has been real. The Houston Press met with members of the LGBTQ community to learn more about their experiences as being part of this group. June is the anniversary of the Stonewall riots, often regarded as the tipping point in the modern gay rights movement and earning its recognition as Pride Month.