Īssistant Police Chief Tony Mitchell stated that the raid's timing with Gay Pride Week was "coincidental and unfortunate," although the raid sparked complaints and accusations of police harassment from the LGBTQ community. Among those arrested were Mary's owner, Jim Farmer, who was also one of the Gay Pride Parade's Grand Marshals for 1980 and his assistant manager, Andy Mills. Shortly after midnight, at 12:05 a.m., HPD and the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission entered the bar and arrested 61 people. Agents had been inside the bar since about 10:30 p.m. According to the HPD, undercover agents had been sent to the bar after receiving civilian complaints of "lewd actions" and public intoxication. ġ980'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. Some subsequent raids were actually marked as a Pride Week event, with customers showing up just to be a part of the raid. In 1979, the police once again raided Mary's, and in 1978, the raid occurred at The Locker. For the third year, the Houston Police Department raided a bar the week prior to Pride. 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. Jpolice raid Īt that time, police raids on gay bars were common.
#HOUSTON GAY BARS CLOSING CODE#
In 1978, the bar's license to sell alcohol was revoked by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission due to continuous code violations, including the sale of alcohol to minors, but acquired it again shortly after by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. Balls was given his own bar stool at the main table. Balls, after he began living in the area around the bar and fell out of a tree outside.
The bar also adopted a cat mascot, which they named Mr. Unlike other local gay bars, Mary's never adopted a dress code. 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. Cliff Owens became co-owner sometime in the late 1970s. In January, 1974, Joe Anthony sold the bar to Jim "Fanny" Farmer. 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. She $6000, but Joe could have the bar to go along with it. One night, having spied the antique cash register, Joe asked Tommy how much she would sell it for. Joe Anthony owned the vending machines in Tommy's Lounge. The bar was owned by the widow of Tommy Musselwhite, herself also named Tommy. In November 1969, Joe Anthony bought the property, which was at the time named Tommy's Lounge. 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. Mary's was opened in 1970 at the corner of Westheimer and Waugh Drive in the Montrose neighborhood of Houston, Texas. Mary's became a landmark and catered to virtually every aspect of the LGBT community. 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 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. Mary's included a jukebox and its bar tops were decorated with pictures of its patrons. Early advertisements also referred to the bar as "Mary's, Naturally". 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.