The highs and lows of 2025

Stonewall National Monument

A month-by-month look back at the LGBTQ+ news that was making headlines this past year

Compiled by
TAMMYE NASH | Managing Editor
and
DAVID TAFFET | Senior Staff Writer

JANUARY
he year began with several changes along Cedar Spring Road. Caven Enterprises announced a new cafe in the space previously occupied by Panda’s. Hamburger Mary’s announced new ownership, but the restaurant didn’t survive through the year. Little did we know that the story of the year would be the street’s crosswalks that had been there for several years.

At Dallas Voice, advertising director Chad Mantooth was promoted to associate publisher.
And we began the year by “Preparing for Trump.” The LGBTQ community was bracing itself for four years of expected assaults on our hard-earned rights while the transgender community was worried about its very existence.

Attorneys warned same-sex couples to get their paperwork in order to prepare for rulings from the most conservative U.S. Supreme Court in a century. Transgender activists warned trans folk to think about moving to more welcoming states than Texas. Immigration specialists warned those who aren’t citizens to be prepared for anything.

U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson made her first speech before Congress on January 14. Johnson, the then-newly-elected representative for District 33, is the first LGBTQ+ person elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from the South.

That same day, state Rep. Venton Jones made history in the Texas Legislature when he proposed to his boyfriend on the floor of the House.

Also in January, Jon and Justin Culpepper, founders of Pride in Frisco, announced they’d be moving to New York, where Jon would become chief information officer of the ACLU. Jasmine Crockett introduced legislation to rename the Dallas V.A. after former Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson. And long-time Sue Ellen’s manager Kathy Jack retired.

After his inauguration, President Donald Trump began issuing executive orders at breakneck speed. From Day 1 he has targeted the LGBTQ+ community with orders rolling back protections for transgender people and terminating DEI programs in the federal government.

Within a week, Lambda Legal had filed a lawsuit to block a trans military ban. That was only the beginning of a year of assaults on LGBTQ+ rights from both the federal government and from Austin where a record number of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation would be introduced in the Legislature.

FEBRUARY
The executive orders continued coming, beginning with one banning trans athletes from participating in school sports. And Lambda Legal continued filing lawsuits on behalf of trans youth losing their health care and blocked from playing in school sports.

In New York, the word “transgender” was removed from the Stonewall National Monument website, and the National Park Service removed the T and the Q from the monument itself. The Stonewall Riots were led by transgender patrons of the bar who were tired of police harassment.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued three doctors, including two from Dallas, for providing gender-affirming care to transgender teens. Lambda Legal sued the state for trying to obtain the private medical records of trans youth.

Fox News had to post that its story about Cathedral of Hope United Church of Christ allowing a guest speaker to make death threats against Trump and Abbott were blatantly false. The uproar happened when members of the right-wing Texas Family Values attended the church’s “celebrating drag” service on Feb. 18.

The Red Tie Gala returned supporting Celebration on the Lake in Mabank.

On Cedar Springs Road, David Richardson and Todd Seaton retired and passed ownership of Skivvies to Ben Kelley. Richardson and Seaton were previous owners of Outlines and TapeLenders as well.

To counter the growing list of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation being filed during the regular session of the Legislature, the LGBTQ chambers of commerce in Texas and All in for Equality set lobby days for the end of March.

MARCH
Former Houston mayor Sylvester Turner died just two months into his first term as a member of Congress. Gov. Greg Abbott scheduled the election to replace him in November, keeping a safe Democratic seat vacant as long as was legally possible.

Texas Bear Round-Up was held in March and it was one of the biggest LGBTQ+ events of the year. The Hyatt Regency Dallas sold out, so the downtown Crowne Plaza was added for overflow.

Former city councilman Chris Luna celebrated one year as president and CEO of the SPCA of Texas.

The U.S. Supreme Court heard a case involving straight discrimination. The plaintiff claimed that two state jobs she applied for in Ohio were filled by gay people, and since she’s straight, she must have been discriminated against. The people doing the hiring were both straight.

The court issued a short ruling that sexual orientation discrimination is wrong whether the person is gay or straight.

More anti-trans legislation was introduced in the Texas Legislature. Among the more heinous bills was one that would charge a transgender person with a felony if they were found guilty of “gender identity fraud.” The unclear bill went nowhere. To counter the 205 anti-LGBTQ bills filed in the Legislature up to this point, more than 20 organizations staged the Queer and Trans Liberation March along Cedar Springs Road from Inwood to Oak Lawn. The following day was Advocacy Day at the Capitol.

The month ended with a federal judge ruling that Texas A&M University couldn’t ban drag shows held at the school’s special event venues.

Following what’s going on in Florida usually gives us an idea of what’s coming to Texas, as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tries to out-MAGA Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. To deal with a labor shortage caused by the crackdown on immigration, the Florida Legislature passed a law that allows 16- and 17-year-olds who are homeschooled to work any hour of the day.

And it began debating a bill to allow 14-year-olds to work overnight shifts.

APRIL
Resource Center held Toast to Life, it’s signature fundraiser, on April 5. Earlier that day, Coalition for Aging LGBT held its annual summit at Senior Source. Easter in the Park was canceled due to severe weather.

Resource Center Health opened its new location on Inwood Road, just in front of its new senior housing facility, Oak Lawn Place. The renovated building now houses the services that were available at the Nelson-Tebedo Clinic on Cedar Springs Road and the food pantry, hot meals program, insurance program and more from its former health campus on Reagan at Brown streets.

And Youth First held its LGBTQ Prom for youth ages 12-18 at Resource Center.

Ken Paxton announced he would not seek re-election as attorney general but would instead challenge John Cornyn for his U.S. Senate seat. That began a barrage of TV commercials that hasn’t stopped challenging Cornyn’s conservative cred.

Among all the bad news in the Legislature, there was some good news: State Rep. Venton Jones passed a bill out of committee to include a standard HIV test as part of routine STD testing. That bill did not make it through the Senate.

AIDS Services of Dallas was rebranded as ASD–A Home for Life. Officials said the new name reflects what the agency actually does, which is help people with HIV live a long, healthy life. The agency also announced it is acquiring the old Braniff flight attendant training building on Wycliff Avenue at the Tollway in Oak Lawn.

To counter the bathroom bills circulating in the Legislature, University of Texas at Arlington designated certain restrooms as all-gender bathrooms.

Marking her first 100 days in office, Rep. Julie Johnson held a town hall meeting that was packed with friendly constituents. Republican members of Congress across the country, on the other hand, cancelled town halls that likely would have been filled with angry constituents.

MAY
In the Legislature, Jones’ bill to add HIV testing to standard STD tests passed the House and was sent to the Senate.

Two measures attacking trans Texans and one putting LGBTQ youth at risk passed the Texas House in less than a week. One requires health benefit plans that cover transitioning also provide coverage for “detransitioning.” The other anti-trans bill would require all public entities to identify a person’s gender as either male or female on legal documents and use a person’s biological sex when collecting data.

A bill redefining abuse and neglect of children was passed, making it harder for Child Protective Services to intervene when parents reject their LGBTQ+ children thus putting LGBTQ+ youth at risk.

When the legislative session ended, lawmakers had spent so much time discussing trans people, they hadn’t managed to attend to any regular business — like passing a budget — so special sessions were sure to be called.

Democrats in the U.S. House and Senate introduced the Equality Act, which would make sexual orientation and gender identity protected classes.

Gina Ortiz Jones came in first in the mayor’s race in San Antonio but was forced into a runoff. She went on to win the runoff and become San Antonio’s first lesbian mayor.

In Fort Worth, a fire at Tommy’s Hamburgers on Camp Bowie Boulevard forced the restaurant to close for an extended period of time. The two other locations remained open according to owner Kelly Smith and her wife, Holly Edwards.

DISD announced Sam Houston Elementary would close at the end of the school year. Teachers and students would transfer to Ignite Middle School near City Place. The bars on Cedar Springs have had a great relationship with the school for more than 25 years, including Cassie Nova’s annual Freakmas Show that raises money for Christmas presents, school supplies and coats. Beginning this year, Freakmas benefits students at Personalized Learning Preparatory at J.W. Ray Learning Center.

JUNE
MetroBall kicked off Pride Month with performances by David Archuleta and Thea Austin. The city of Dallas began the month by flying the city’s official Pride Month city flag on city property including City Hall, Dallas police headquarters and Love Field. The official flag features the city’s seal on a rainbow field.

Denton Mayor Gerard Hudspeth refused to issue a Pride proclamation, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced the USS Harvey Milk would be renamed.

Adrian Caldwell and his Badge of Pride organization opened an LGBTQ+ exhibit at the Irving Archives and Museum. The local history exhibit included everything from AIDS Memorial Quilt panels and DIFFA jackets to buttons, photos and posters. During the summer run, speakers included Philadelphia Gay News publisher Mark Segal, filmmaker Robert Camina and NOH8 creator Adam Bouska.

St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal Church celebrated its 75th birthday with a conference called Faith vs. Force: How Christianity Itself Helps Us Fight Christian Nationalism. Congregation Beth El Binah celebrated Pride with guest speaker Rabbi Denise Eger, the first lesbian and only the third woman to be elected president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis.

Pride events were plentiful. Dallas Pride offered two days of festival and a Pride parade through Fair Park. Dallas Southern Pride hosted a weekend of events celebrating Juneteenth. The Arts District opened for a Friday night filled with arts and cultural events.

Arlington Pride has grown exponentially in its few years of existence, and this year’s event filled Leavit Pavilion for a show featuring Trixie Mattel.

Unleashed moved to the gayborhood with speakers from TV, film, music, tech and beyond. Pride in Bloom returned to the Dallas Arboretum. Fort Worth’s Pride celebration returned as Trinity Pride. And Pride moved farther from the Gayborhood than ever with Cedar Creek Lake Pride along with Pride celebrations in Longview and Tyler.

The old rainbow crosswalks, installed in February of 2020, had been disintegrating pretty badly, so new, refreshed rainbows — paid for with community money rather than city dollars — were installed along Cedar Springs Road from the Legacy of Love monument on Oak Lawn to Kroger at Douglas Avenue.

A new online series called The Gayborhood premiered, directed by Israel Luna and produced by Dallas Voice. A season 2 is in the works.

JULY
In July, longtime LGBTQ activist Ahmad Goree was named chief of staff for Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor. Goree has played vital roles in Dallas Southern Pride, Abounding Prosperity Inc. and Texas Pride Community Foundation as well as co-founding and serving as president of the Muhlaysia Booker Foundation. Before taking the job with the city, Goree worked as assistant director of program management and communications at the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Word came in early July that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that public schools must give parents the opportunity to opt their children out of lessons or classroom instructions on matters of gender and sexuality that conflict with the parents’ religious beliefs.

The North Texas LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce presented its 2025 Pride in Business Awards in July, honoring Chad Mantooth as Chamber Champion, JPM Chase at Impact Partner of the Year, Lekka Retail Concepts as LGBTQ+ Business of the Year, Cece Cox as Community Legacy Award winner, TYS Global as LGBTBE Certified Business of the Year, Sandy Anderson of Anderson and Associates as Ally Business of the Year, Dallas Hope Charities as Nonprofit Member of the Year, Heather Herndon-Wright and Vistra as Supplier Opportunity Advocate of the Year, Out and Proud@Southwest as Employee Resource Group of the year and former Dallas City Council member Omar Narvaez as Chamber Advocacy Award winner.

Teddy Bear Party founders and LGBTQ+ influencers Joe Riggs and Jason Hanna announced that they and their two sons would be featured in the reality show Back to the Frontier on HBO Max.

Pride in Dallas announced that the grand marshals for the 2026 Pride in Dallas Parade, set for September, were drag legend Kennedy Davenport and former Dallas City Councilman Omar Narvaez.

Cathedral of Hope UCC celebrated its 55th anniversary in July.

State Rep. Jessica González filed HB 38, a comprehensive nondiscrimination bill for LGBTQ+ Texans and veterans in employment, housing and public accommodations during a called special session of the Texas Legislature. The bill did not pass, leaving Texas’ LGBTQ+ community and its military veterans with no protections against discrimination. González also filed a resolution calling for the U.S. Department of Justice to release the complete Jeffrey Epstein investigative files.

Republican state Rep. Mayes Middleton, who had introduced an unsuccessful version of the bathroom bill during the 2025 regular session of the Texas Legislature, re-introduced the discriminatory measure in the first special session. It went on to pass the Legislature, was signed by Gov. Greg Abbott and went into effect in December.

Openly gay man Nathan Hawks announced in July that he was running for Congress in District 24, the seat currently held by right-wing Republican Beth Van Duyne. There are four other candidates running in the Democratic Primary in that race.

Shortly after Hawks announced his candidacy, gay lobbyist Mike Hendrix announced in Dallas Voice that he was challenging incumbent Democrat Terry Meza for the District 105 seat. Immediately after his announcement, longtime LBTQ+ Democratic activists, including Jeff Strater and Lee Daugherty, spoke up to condemn Hendrix for challenging the longtime LGBTQ+ ally, pointing to what they said were Hendrix’s lies about his background and the fact that he blatantly omitted certain things, including the fact that he had previously campaigned for right-wing anti-LGBTQ+ politicians like Michelle Bachman and Newt Gingrich, and that he had been sued for campaign materials he had created and distributed for a candidate in a Kaufman County Commissioners Court election challenging the incumbent Republican. The materials incorrectly tied the incumbent to a man arrested on child sex crime charges, the court rule, ordering Hendrix to pay the plaintiff nearly $1 million.

After he was accused of illegally accessing donor information at Cathedral of Hope UCC, where his then-fiancé the Rev. Neil Thomas is senior pastor, and using that information for campaign mailers, Hendrix quickly “paused” his campaign, citing ongoing “health concerns” including a cancer diagnosis. At the same time, Thomas announced that he had ended his relationship with Hendrix. Hendrix officially withdrew from the campaign in December.

AUGUST
August was a sad month for the North Texas LGBTQ+ community, starting off with news of the death of former Dallas Police Chief Ben Click and well-known artist Robbie Conover. Click led the Dallas Police Department through a season of change following a lawsuit by Mica England that challenged DPD’s anti-LGBTQ+ hiring policies. Click was the first Dallas police chief to ride in the Dallas Pride parade. Conover, well known for his bright pop art style and his generosity in donating his work to raise money for LGBTQ+ community causes and organizations, also died in August following a lengthy illness.

Within the first two weeks of the month, LGBTQ+ legend George Harris and longtime activist Ann Brown also died. Harris, with his late partner Jack Evans, helped start countless organizations, including what is now the North Texas LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce and history preservation organization The Dallas Way. Jack and George were also the first same-sex couple legally married in Dallas County, exchanging vows on Marriage Equality Day, June 26, 2015, at the Dallas County courthouse. Brown died following an extended illness.

Her activism dated back to the 1970s when she was an early board member for Dallas Gay Alliance and helped organize the 1979 March on Washington. She also worked on city council campaigns in 1985 and 1987 for Bill Nelson, the first openly gay person to run for Dallas City Council.

Also in August, former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis was appealing her lawsuit claiming marriage equality should be overturned because it violates her personal religious beliefs to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Meanwhile in Texas, Democrats in the House of Representatives had left the state to break quorum and prevent Republicans from redrawing congressional districts at Donald Trump’s order to flip safe Democrat seats to Republican seats. The state representatives eventually returned, and Republicans controlling the House forced the lawmakers to sign “permission slips” promising not to leave the state again before the Democrats were allowed to leave the House chamber while Republicans forced a vote approving the wildly gerrymandered new districts. Fort Worth Democratic Rep. Nicole Collier refused to the sign and instead camped out in the House chamber until after the vote, drawing national attention to the fight.

Lawmakers who signed the permission slips and were allowed to leave were still assigned DPS troopers as babysitters to keep the Democrats from leaving the state. Two legislators — Terry Meza and Venton Jones — made their DPS watchdogs have to follow along as they went to a meeting of Stonewall Democrats of Dallas held in The Rose Room, North Texas’ premiere drag venue located inside LGBTQ+ dance bar Station 4.

As August came to an end, news broke that an individual named Robin Westman had opened fire on children praying in the sanctuary at Anunciation Catholic Church school in Minneapolis. Then came reports that Westman was transgender, but later reports indicated Westman had rejected the transgender identity. Westman, 23, died by suicide at the church after killing two children and injuring 17 others.

In other news, The U.S. Department of Justice demanded access to the medical care information of transgender minors, apparently in preparation for orders that came in December banning gender-affirming care for minors.

SEPTEMBER
As September began, Arlington City Council members put their city on the path to becoming the first city in the country to rescind nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ and other minority residents, suspending the ordinance after faced with threats of losing federal funding if they didn’t.

Organizers for the Greg Dollgener Memorial AIDS Fund’s annual Night of Stars fundraiser announced drag performer Bosco as the event’s headliner, while John Waters came to town to headline the annual Unleashed LGBTQ event, David Foster and Katherine McPhee headlined Turtle Creek Chorale’s Rhapsody fundraising gala (which brought in $440,000), and Lady Gaga announced the was adding Fort Worth dates to her current tour.

Cedar Springs Merchants Association in September donated $25,000 — money raised through the monthly Cedar Springs Wine Walk — to the North Texas LGBTQ Chamber Foundation to help cover the costs of replacing the rainbow crosswalks on Cedar Springs Road.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, in the process of opening a new clinic on Cedar Springs Road in the building that formerly houses the Nelson Tebedo Clinic, set off a firestorm of criticism by painting over the mural that had adorned the south facing outside wall of the building. AHA then flew several of its leaders to Dallas to meet with community members, apologizing for painting over the previous mural and announcing plans for a new one in its place.

And the war on transgender Americans continued with Texas A&M University in College Station firing a professor who included content on gender identity in her class curriculum. Then officials in the U.S. Department of Justice suggested banning gun ownership by trans people. But in one positive update, the Texas Attorney General’s Office was forced to drop its lawsuit against Dr. Hector Granados of El Paso alleging the doctor provided gender-affirming care to transgender children in violation of state law.

OCTOBER
Resource Center in October announced that it was rebranding its programming, dropping individually-named programs and combining everything under the label of Community Wellness Program. And Two x Two for AIDS announced its own rebranding, changing to AmFAR Dallas.

The annual Frisco Pride announced new organizers and a new location in October, while in Abilene, police arrested a man who made threats on social media of shooting up that city’s Pride parade.

Dallas Voice columnist and longtime contributor Jenny Block published her fifth book, Badass Manifesting.

October was also the month we saw the beginning of the Rainbow Wars in the Gayborhood. Gov. Greg Abbott ordered that every city in the state remove any non-standard crosswalk designs for safety reasons, but it was the addition of comments about crosswalk designs espousing political ideologies that made it obvious he was targeting rainbow crosswalks in LGBTQ neighborhoods around the state. Those who refused risked losing federal funds, Abbott threatened. While some cities — like Houston — went ahead and removed their rainbows, San Antonio and Dallas decided to fight back, filing for exemptions based on studies plainly showing their rainbow crosswalks had improved safety in those intersections rather than making them more dangerous. And along Cedar Springs Road, businesses fought back by adding rainbows everywhere possible — on walls, windows, sidewalks and more.

Then Oak Lawn United Methodist Church put the rainbow cherry on the top of Rainbow Wars — and made international headlines — by painting its front steps leading up from Cedar Springs Road to the church’s historic landmark sanctuary in all the colors of the rainbow. The steps were consecrated in a service on Oct. 31.

Arlington police announced in October that they had arrested and charged a suspect, 25-year-old Arthur Morris Jr., in connection with the Sept. 30 murder of 21-year-old trans woman Kier Laprice Solomon.

Black Tie Dinner officials announced Oct. 17 that Congresswoman Julie Johnson and Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett had been added to the lineup for the 2025 event set in November. And on Oct. 24, as thousands took to the streets around in the country — including in Dallas and Fort Worth and other North Texas cities — for the No Kings protests, Dallasites also held a rally to protest Abbott’s order to remove rainbow crosswalks, and LGBTQ groups in Tyler learned they were being officially disinvited to the annual Trunk-Or-Treat on the campus of UT-Tyler.

And as the month came to an end, the Texas Supreme Court issued a rules clarification stating that it would not be a violation of the judicial code of ethics for Texas judges to refuse to perform same-sex weddings, and Dallas physician Dr. May Lau, one of three doctors AG Ken Paxton sued over gender-affirming health care for trans minors, surrendered her license to practice medicine in Texas and moved to Oregon, where she has continued her medical practice.

NOVEMBER
November started off with a bang as Democratic candidates around the country rode a blue wave into office on election day, signaling the widespread and growing anger over the Trump administration’s disastrous policies. Texas voters approved all the propositions on the ballot.
While Holland was busy electing a gay man as prime minister, UT-Arlington’s only LGBTQ student group shut down, and the 44th annual Black Tie Dinner drew more than 2,000 attendees to celebrate Equality Award recipient Jim Obergefell, Kuchling Humanitarian Award recipient Jaymes Black and 20 local beneficiaries and national beneficiary Human Rights Campaign Fund.

The U.S. Supreme Court announced Nov. 14 that it was rejecting Kim Davis appeal of her lawsuit challenging marriage equality.

Dallas Voice Associate Publisher and Advertising Director Chad Mantooth won the Visit Dallas Can-Do Spirit Award, while the Arlington City Council pushed a final vote on rescinding its nondiscrimination ordinance into December.

A federal appeals court panel of judges halted the Texas GOP congressional redistricting map as being racially gerrymandered.

As the month ended, in San Antonio, 57-year-old Sigfredo Ceja Alvarez was indicted on murder charges in connection with the June shooting death of gay actor Johnathan Joss in San Antonio; Equality Texas announced that Interim Executive Director Brad Pritchett had been named as executive director, and Cassie Nova announced that annual Freakmas benefit had raised more than $12,000.

DECEMBER
Dallas Voice on Dec. 5 named the Rev. Rachel Griffin-Allison as the LGBTQ+ Texan of the Year in honor of her leadership as pastor of Oak Lawn United Methodist Church.
A little more than a week later, Oak Lawn UMC unveiled its reimagined nativity scene, placing the holy family in the context of modern immigrant and refugee families being targeted by ICE.

The Texas Bathroom Bill took effect in early December. And Arlington City Council officially voted to suspend its nondiscrimination ordinance, becoming the first city in the country to revoke such discriminations already in place.

The Arlington City Council voted 5-4 to permanently suspend its nondiscrimination ordinance, prompting HELP Center for LGBTQ Health & Wellness to announce it was suspending plans for the annual Arlington Pride event that brings thousands of people to town and adds thousands of dollars to the city’s budget

On the political front in North Texas, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett filed to run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Republican John Cornyn. Crockett now faces LGBTQ ally James Talarico in that Democratic Primary.

Responding to SCOTUS’ decision not to halt implementation of Texas’ new congressional district map as a lawsuit challenging that map continues, Rep. Julie Johnson filed for District 33 in the U.S. House and former Congressman Colin Allred dropped out of the U.S. Senate race to challenge Johnson in District 33.

Speaking of Congress, Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor-Green — who had announced, after a public feud with her former ally Donald Trump that she was resigning her seat in the U.S. House effective Jan. 5 — took one last swipe at one of her favorite targets, transgender people, by getting a bill passed in the House that would criminalize gender-affirming care for trans youth.

Meanwhile in Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton upped his level of Transgender Derangement Syndrome but launching a form on the AG website where individuals could report violations of Texas’ ridiculous and discriminatory bathroom bill.

Black Tie Dinner ended the year on a high note by distributing $1.38 million to its 2025 beneficiaries and announcing that, as Deirdre Colemen stepped into the role of senior co-chair, she would be joined by Joshua Willliams as junior co-chair for 2026 and Gage Baird as co-chair elect.