Town Meeting I
June 25, 1978

Town Meeting I was the centerpiece of Houston's first formal celebration of Gay Pride Week.
Prior to the Anita Bryant protest the homosexual community was found at bars and house parties
but was largely silent in the greater community; at the end of that protest, there was a community
that had found common goals and aspirations and was ready to voice them.

Ray Hill, with others, conceptualized a Town Meeting that would begin a community dialogue and
motivate gay people into a viable political force working for equal rights and privileges. The event
was coordinated by the Gay Political Caucus. It was the first politically oriented homosexual meeting
in the United States (Houston Chronicle). Four-thousand people attended the meeting at the
Astro Arena and it made the news on the front pages of both Sunday papers and on television.

Former Texas State Representative, gubernatorial candidate, and later vice-presidential nominee,
Sissy Farenthold was the keynote speaker. Her words spoke directly to the meeting's resolutions
regarding civil rights, health, and safety: "We are none of us free unless we all are free. We cannot
open the door to some minorities while denying access to others."

Ginny Apuzzo, of the National Gay Task Force, chaired the meeting. The concerns of Houston's
gay community were outlined in 13 propositions addressing job security, police action against
gays, health care, and the repeal of the Texas sodomy statute.

Town Meeting I resulted in the creation of: the Montrose Counseling Center, the Montrose Activity
Center, the Gay and Lesbian Switchboard, the Hispanic Caucus, the Montrose Sports Association.
A resolution was passed to form an alliance with Transgender individuals.

The closing speaker, Donald Embinder, publisher of Blueboy magazine emphasized that the vast
majority of non-gay people are supportive of human rights, including full equal rights for Gay people.
(LXIX: Volume 1 No. 22, June 30 - July 7)