It was indeed a long, long road

July 3, 1970. I realize most of you weren’t yet born so let me tell you about that day in Houston, TX. I was home from college. I was 19. I had not yet come out of the closet. In fact I had yet to admit to myself that I was gay. I was struggling with that exquisite torment of being attracted to men while society was telling me this was wrong. I was restless, yearning, and feeling like something BIG was about to happen to me. I’ve had these premonitions most of my life. I am usually right. Something BIG usually happens.

My best friends from high school had married in June and we wanted to celebrate. We were all underage and couldn’t legally drink. S & P, the newlyweds, had heard from a gay friend that the easiest club to sneak into was a gay disco called The Palace. Management overlooked age requirements for pretty young things with money to spend. The thought of being in a room full of gay men was exciting and scary as hell. It took a lot of coaxing to get me to agree to go.

The Palace was located in the 12th floor penthouse of a high-rise in Montrose, the gay ghetto of Houston. It was Houston’s version of legendaries like Trocadero Transfer in SF, Heaven in London, or Sanctuary in NYC. The walls were glass and the view of the skyline was breathtaking. There was an outdoor patio bar (great for cooling off after leaving the dance floor). Visiting rock stars dropped in. Janice Joplin, Steven Stills, Gregg Allman all visited after their Houston concerts. The music was fabulous, the men were fabulous, and the bartenders were the hottest, especially one…



God I was a wreck. I made S & P walk one in front and one behind me. I needed protection from the big bad homosexuals. HA! We proceeded to drink ourselves silly. S & P wanted to dance and I was terrified of being left alone so they parked me on a barstool at the main bar and asked the nearest bartender to look after my *straight* self. He was the most beautiful man I had ever seen. He laughed at my nerves and talked to me while my friends danced. His name was BC. I was mesmerized. This gorgeous gay man was talking to me and he wasn’t scary at all. His gentle banter charmed and soothed. When my friends returned I told them to dance all they wanted I was fine right where I was. I spent the next 4 hours taking to this hunk. The Palace’s last call and closing each night was heralded by the playing of the theme from the “2001” soundtrack, followed by the theme from “The Lion in Winter” soundtrack, and ending with Neil Diamond’s “He Ain’t Heavy He’s My Brother”. The lyrics “The road is long, with many a winding turns, That leads us to who knows where, Who know where “ and “It’s a long, long road from which there is no return” resonated in my soul.

One year later The Palace had closed and reopened as a straight bar, I was out of the closet, and BC and I celebrated our 1st anniversary. We celebrated 32 in all.