Gay Galveston

Galveston, on the “Third Coast” barely an hour from Houston, is gearing up to be the next Provincetown or Key West. Residents boast how the town is “half gay” already, and new gay-geared businesses and transplants seem to be cropping up all over this historic island town on the Gulf of Mexico.

Undercurrent (2409 Market Street) is a large gay dance club and cabaret showbar with something for everyone. Even straight couples come on weekend nights to join the fun and watch the hot dancers. In addition to Undercurrent, Galveston is home to at least another six gay establishments. There is another big dance club called Garza’s Kon Tiki (315 Tremont) with an amazing array of past divas lining its walls, and two bars on the beach: 3rd Coast (31st & Seawall), with a fun happy hour; and Pink Dolphin (9th & Seawall), which is in the former location of 3rd Coast and has a great water view. A new gay-owned restaurant called Hurricane Cafe (1328 Seawall), specializing in hot wings, is opening this month, and there are several gay-owned/gay-friendly guesthouses and B&B’s as well.

“Galveston Island near Texas, it’s the most undiscovered gay mecca,” says Eldridge Langlinais, who owns Island Properties Real Estate, and last year, with his lover Tim Jennings opened the Paradise, a gay guest house. “Thousands of gay people are living here. The personality of Galveston is very, very gay-friendly. It’s totally okay to be gay. You can go to the grocery store in drag and it’s like it’s nothing. I don’t do it, but I have a friend…”

For decades, the gay and lesbian community of Houston has sought out Galveston: for Splash Day on Stewart Beach, the notorious gay party that announces the start of the summer season; to escape the bar raids of the ’60s and ’70s; prowling around the quaint antique stores and art galleries; enjoying the nude beach. Or as a place to buy a weekend house on the cheap; a place with an easygoing pace and all the gaiety and freewheeling fun of a beach town; a place to move for a small-town atmosphere in everything but its progressive embracing of the gay community. In this special Galveston issue, we tell you where to go if you visit Galveston, give a portrait of some of Galveston’s many interesting people, explore the gay side of Galveston history, and even include a story from a friend about renovating a historic Galveston cottage.

“When you come over that causeway, everything slows down,” says Galvestonian Susan Henry. “We all work very steady and hard, but it’s still different. It’s a real respite for Houstonians.”

It’s remarkable that this town of 60,000 has a half dozen gay bars; two well-established gay guest houses; a monthly publication, The Galveston Gayzette; and numerous, numerous businesses owned by local gay individuals and couples. The many gay women and men who live on the island have played a strong civic role in helping revive Galveston, work on its historic neighborhoods, promote its arts. The wider community is smart enough to realize this and be thankful. Indeed, for the past two years, Galveston has been alight with economic development and people wanting to buy properties.

And just as the town as a whole is accepting of the gay community, many of the gay people I spoke with made pains to be inclusive of everyone, too.

“Not just gay, I emphasize gay-friendly,” Eldridge said, in talking about the island and his guest house. “I am not one to exclude gay-friendly heterosexuals. There are hundreds of wonderful heterosexual people who do not care what you do—you can slow dance right in front of them. I would not exclude those people for the world.”

“It’s like everything down here,” says Nathan Sweeten, who owns the huge Peanut Butter antique warehouse on the Strand. “It’s much more laid back. But I never felt down here that there was ever a problem with anybody in the public eye, if you were gay. It being a small town, you can be gay and live here and enjoy the small-town life much more freely than in most any other small town.”

Which is not to say that Galveston has achieved gay utopia status, and is about to be annexed as an island colony of Vermont. Although there is an acceptance of being gay, there is also a feeling that maybe you just don’t shine a spotlight on it. Several people who were very friendly in helping with this article asked that their names not be published. Maybe it’s just a sense of privacy, another Galvestonian trait.

“It isn’t something we discuss a lot,” says Oma Galloway, a born-on-the-island treasure, who just celebrated his 70th birthday. “We don’t ask personal questions about you, we just let it be. Which is one of the magical things about Galveston.”

Also, the biggest employer is the University of Texas Medical Branch, and they have a reputation of being conservative; they don’t offer domestic partner benefits, and some employees don’t feel safe with being out.

Seaside towns have always exuded a potent allure, a chance to flee the hectic and confined spaces of city life. John Masefield wrote the quote 103 years ago, yet the call of the sea remains as appealing as ever.

Galveston has sung her siren song for generations of holiday visitors, whether daytripping from Houston, or on holiday from far away. Besides its entrancing sea, Galveston has more fun and attractions than you can fit into a whole summer, from inviting pockets of interesting shops and cafes, to great colored pyramids and cascading waterfall creations.

If you’ve never vacationed in Galveston before, you’re in for a distinctive treat. And if you’re a longtime visitor – maybe even been coming your whole life – you’ll find that this everchanging magical island still has many wonderful surprises waiting.

Galveston offers 32 miles of relaxing beaches, superb restaurants, top resort hotels, marvelous downtown shopping, numerous antique stores, incredible art galleries, fabulous entertainment and one of the largest and well-preserved concentrations of Victorian architecture in the country.

Galveston is a small romantic island tucked deep within the heart of south Texas possessing all the charm of a small southern town and just 40 minutes south of the fourth largest city in the United States. At 32 miles long and two and a half miles wide, most residents can’t remember the last time they visited the mainland and, if circumstances permitted, they would never leave.

The Island has seen its share of calamities, yet the worst natural disaster in U.S. history could not erase the tranquility of a Galveston sunset.

From soft sandy beaches to famous 19th century architecture, the island is surrounded with incredible history and unique beauty.