HENRY McCLURG, PUBLISHER

Henry McClurg, publisher of a long line of newspapers spanning over forty years and self-declared Mayor of Montrose was originally from Mississippi. In Houston he worked a couple of years for a local radio station until realizing the opportunity and need for a gay publication. He wanted to provide competition for the only other gay publication at the time, The Nuntius, which had a different focus.

His new publication was called Contact, and it begun in March 1974. Its circulation grew in the Gulf States region, with its fare of news stories, bar guides and ads. It ran 17 issues, until October 1975, when McClurg sold the publication to The Advocate. As part of the arrangement he would work for them, which he did for a year, after which he became hungry to start another newspaper of his own. The Montrose Star was Houston's first "gay newspaper" with a focus on news. It lasted from late 1976 until the end of 1980.

Next was what would become the series of Voice newspapers and a long-running publishing empire. The Montrose Voice began in October 1980 and in early 1991 changed its name to the New Voice, and then at the end of 1993 to the Houston Voice. Later that year McClurg sold the paper to its then Editor, and the publication survived in varying states, eventually being sold to Windows Media, which closed in 2009.

Worth mentioning are several other short-run publications, The Star, in 1977 and 1978; and Out in Texas in 1983. A side project was the Dallas Gay News, running from September 1982 until April 1984, when that paper's editors left to start their own, The Dallas Voice.

From 2005 until 2010 McClurg published the Montrose Gem. He founded the Montrose Star in March 2010, and then eight months later sold it to the current publishers (also of Gay & Lesbian Yellow Pages), and that newspaper continues. In addition, McClurg also ran the Montrose Guest House for about fifteen years, starting in 1993.

While there have been many Houston publications over the years, in varying formats, it was Henry McClurg who contributed the most to bringing gay & lesbian news to Houston. In an interview for a Rice University Oral History Project in 2012 McClurg summed up why publishing was so important to him. "I figured my publications had a purpose, to do good, to educate people and to educate our community, let them know what is going on and be proud...not be ashamed that you're gay."