Originally published in the San Antonio Current. Jesse Cazares has been frequenting the Bonham Exchange since he was 18. It’s been his club of choice for great music, dancing and throwing back a few cocktails in the main video bar or out on the patio. He was drawn by storied gay nightclub’s openness and acceptance,…
Bonham Exchange Will Remain Open After Owner Kenneth Garrett’s Death
Originally published in the San Antonio Current. Lee Haines, the Bonham Exchange’s general manager, wants patrons to know it will be business as usual at the iconic downtown dance club despite the recent death of owner Kenneth Garrett. The community has nothing to worry about, Haines said, explaining the nightspot will remain open and is…
Allies United: Emily Leeper
Emily Leeper When Emily Leeper’s then 14-year-old daughter Jackson confided in her that she was gay, she let her child know she would always love and support her. “She said she wanted to be around other youth, who shared her experience,” Leeper said, “so I went online and tried to find some [LGBTQ] youth support…
Floral Designer David Garcia Conjures a New Orleans Spirit in Olmos Park
The Big Easy has cast its spell over David Garcia with all its magical charms and has rendered him a soul enchanted with the bewitching city. Is it the madness of Mardi Gras? The allure of black magic and the dark voodoo shops scattered throughout the French Quarter? Or something as sugary and sweet as…
Saying ‘Adiós’ to On Main Off Main
Originally published in the San Antonio Current Donning matching black T-shirts that read, “On Main Off Main, Adiós Amigos, 1983-2016,” Bill Davis and Oscar Camacho are laughing while reminiscing about some of the more colorful customer exchanges they have had over the past 33 years of owning the quirky and eclectic On Main Off Main…
Attorney María Salazar Is a Voice for the Vulnerable and a Builder of Bridges
María R. Salazar was 5 years old when she held her first important job. “I was the water girl,” she recalled of working at a tender age in the beet, onion and potato fields of Idaho, where her parents toiled as migrant workers. “Whenever it would get really hot, I would take the jugs out…
Bihl Haus Arts Observes LGBT Pride with “Profiling Made Visible”
South Side native Mark Anthony Martinez recalls living in Portland, Oregon, where he was attending Pacific Northwest College of Art after graduating from Brackenridge High School in 2005. He probably never imagined he would experience racial discrimination in this day and age. “It was the first time I actually felt I was a minority, even…
Gay Royalty Rules Cornyation’s Court of Our Mad, Mad, Mad World
Michael Bobo and his husband Wayne D. Beers — the dynamic duo of W.D. Deli — have been preparing for their crowning moment for years, so to speak. So when the lights go down, the music starts thumping, the curtains go up and an odd assortment of outrageous drag queens, city celebs and other bizarre,…
Ray Chavez Recalls Cornyation Antics Through the Ages
“Ray is the heart and soul of Cornyation … it wouldn’t be here without him.” The house was packed and Cornyation was in full swing. The music was blaring, the stage lights glaring, and a group of actors and dancers were performing in another outlandish skit to thunderous roars, when, suddenly, a dancer took an unscripted nosedive…
On and Off “Fred” Returns to the Deco District
Public artist Rolando Briseño was visiting Cuernavaca, Mexico, several years ago when he found inspiration for a work of art while standing on the balcony of a friend’s home, overlooking the street scenes below. Sticking to his signature symbol of tables and tablecloths, he hired models from the local art school and positioned two males…