On Election Day, Montrose Icon Buddy’s Was the First LGBTQ Bar in Texas to Serve as a Polling Place | Eater Houston

"At 2409 Grant Street, a gay bar served as a polling place on Election Day, welcoming about 200 voters in an event owner Christopher Barry believes may have been the first time an LGBTQ+ bar served as a presidential-election polling place in America (he concedes San Francisco’s The Eagle also hosted voters, but says Buddy’s was the first in Texas). The theme was “Vote in the Front, Party in the Back,” with 14 voting booths set up inside where bartenders could not serve cocktails while customers ordered drinks on the patio outside; music came from DJ Melle Mel on the back patio and the jukebox inside, an impromptu drag show by Joy to the Polls entertained voters, and Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins stopped by briefly. TVs were turned on in the evening to watch returns, excitement built throughout the day as people realized they “weren’t going to go to bed anytime soon,” and the bar saw many first-time voters, both young and old, giving the whole day a celebratory vibe. Barry said he applied months earlier because gay bars have historically helped build community and movements and he wanted the bar to be a signal that everyone gets to participate; he kept the application quiet until the final paperwork for fear of jinxing it or attracting counter-protesters, and hoped Buddy’s would be “a beacon for humanity and for the election process.”" - Brittanie Shey