The Anita Bryant Protest and Town Meeting 1

Ray Hill speaking at Town Hall 1. Proud Pony International. [source]

Early LGBT Organization in Houston
In 1969, the Stonewall Riots kicked off the modern Gay Rights movement. But organization around the country didn’t immediately follow. In Texas, it would take almost 10 years to bring the LGBT community together. In 1975, the Houston Gay Political Caucus (today the Houston GLBT Political Caucus) was organized by Pokey Anderson, Bill Buie, Hugh Crell, and Keith McGee. The Caucus worked to elect LGBT friendly politicians in Houston and throughout the state. Though they had some successes politically, they weren’t a social movement that could get the entire LGBT community involved. They were, however, instrumental in providing the organization for the events that did.

Rally participants protest Bryant appearance, photo by Roger Powers, Houston Post, Jan 10., 1978. [source]

Anita Bryant Comes to Town
In June of 1977, the Texas State Bar Association invited singer and anti-LGBT spokesperson Anita Bryant to perform at their annual convention in Houston. Houston’s LGBT population protested. Loudly. Gary Van Ooteghem, president of the Houston Gay Political Caucus, and Ray Hill organized a protest outside the hotel where Bryant performed, including speakers at the nearby Houston Public Library. The organizers told the police they expected about 500 people. The crowd would reach more than 8,000 people by the end of the night.

Image from the 2016 Houston Pride Parade. [source]

Town Meeting 1
Capitalizing on the momentum of the Anita Bryant Protests, Hill and Van Ooteghem organized Town Meeting 1 at the Astro Arena the following year. More than 3,000 people attended a day of speakers, including Hill, Frances Farenthold (a gubernatorial candidate), Bob Baskir, and Donald Embinder. Though some thought the meeting suffered from trying to do too much at once, it spawned a number of new LGBT organizations and helped keep momentum going for LGBT rights advocacy in Houston and throughout Texas. You can take a look at a review of Town Meeting 1 in LXIX here (There’s a bit of nudity in the magazine, but not in the review of the meeting, which is the first article). The first Gay Pride Parade kicked off in Houston in 1979 and attracted 5,000 people. The Parade has continued annually until the present, with the 2016 parade drawing 500,000 or more people.

Tommy Tune

Tommy Tune, a 6′ 6″ Broadway star [source]

Early Career
Tommy Tune was born in Wichita Falls, Texas in 1939. He studied dance as a child and went on to earn degrees in performing arts at the University of Texas and the University of Houston. In the 1960s, he picked up and moved to New York City to perform on Broadway. He debuted in Baker Street in 1965. In 1967, while performing in How Now, Dow Jones, Tune was tapped to play the part of Ambrose Kemper in the movie production of Hello Dolly (In which Horace Vandergelder calls Ambrose a “seven foot tall nincompoop,” a reference to Tune’s incredible 6 foot 6 inch height.).

Recognition
Tune would win his first Tony Award in 1974 for his performance in SeeSaw. In 1978 he would direct and choreograph the first stage production of Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. He would go on to win 10 Tony Awards for performance, choreography, and directing, as well as numerous Drama Desk awards. He has been inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was also awarded the National Medal of Arts by President George W. Bush in 2003, the highest arts honor in the United States. Every year, Theatre Under the Stars presents the Tommy Tune Awards for excellence in high school musical theatre.

A Long Life
In 1997, Tune wrote Footnotes*, which talks about his childhood in Texas, his time working with other big Broadway stars, and what it’s like as an openly gay man on Broadway. Tune often talks about the impact of growing up in Texas on his career, particularly the support of his father for his dancing (there’s a great interview you can find here). Tune has continued to perform into his 70s, touring shows across the country.

Robert Rauschenberg

Robert Rauschenberg By Jac. de Nijs / Anefo – Nationaal Archief, CC BY-SA 3.0 [source]

Riding Bikes by Robert Rauschenberg, Berlin, 1988. Photograph by Hans Bug at the German language Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 [source]

Found Art
Robert Rauschenberg was born in Port Arthur, Texas in 1925. He would become a leader in the pop art movement of the 1950s and 60s. He is most famous for his collage work, which began with found objects and later incorporated photographs using a silk screen process and other traditional art methods. In 1969, NASA invited Rauschenberg to view the Apollo 11 launch and provided him with materials, such as photographs, charts, and maps, to make his art. This began a fascination with science and technology that would permeate his work.

Sky Garden by Robert Rauschenberg, 1969, created for NASA [source]

Personal Life
Rauschenberg married Susan Wiel in 1950, but the couple divorced in 1953. Over the years, Rauschenberg would have relationships with several of his fellow artists, including Cy Twombly and Jasper Johns. He died in 2008 and was survived by his son Christopher Rauschenberg, a noted photographer, and his longtime partner, artist Darryl Pottorf.