HOUSTON, Texas — June is Pride Month, and we’re celebrating some of the amazing people who are blazing trails in the LGBTQ+ community.
Julie Mabry owns two bars in Houston – Pearl Bar Houston, which is the city’s sole lesbian bar, and Side Peace Sports Bar, the first women’s sports bar in Houston. Her main aim in creating these spaces was to establish safe environments where people could feel welcomed and embraced for who they truly are.
“My motivation for opening Pearl stems from personal experiences when my sister, who is also gay, faced difficulties in the past,” stated Mabry. “Back in the 1980s, as she was exploring her identity, we visited a gay club in San Antonio, Texas. Witnessing the transformation in her demeanor and seeing her sense of security deeply impacted me, sparking a desire and ambition to create a similar haven.”
In 2013, Mabry launched Pearl Bar with the vision of offering Houston’s LGBTQ+ community a place where they could socialize, form connections, and feel a sense of belonging.
“The experience that I hope people have when they come to Pearl Bar, which is something that I’ve witnessed thousands of times, that there are actually bars that specifically cater to the lesbian-trans community. Most people don’t even realize that we exist, and/or that there’s only two in Texas.”
She opened Side Peace Sports earlier this year next door to Pearl Bar.
“Side Peace Sports is a new concept that we started that is more focused on women’s sports,” said Mabry. “We obviously show all sports. We let everybody in, as long as they’re respectful to our community.”
Click on the video above to see the difference that both spaces are making in the community!
