Best Fitness Specialists: Wesley Watson and
Anthony Mancilla/JAMC Fit
Partners in life and in business, these two fitness coaches give specific attention to queer male clients. Sure, they can help you drop the weight, add the muscles and thicken that booty. But they also want to demystify the gym environment for those seeking a less intimidating spot than amid the muscleheads and gym rats. Instead, Watson and Mancilla offer focused training, food-positive nutrition plans and a safe space to become your own superhero.
— Rich Lopez
Best Public Service: The Oak Lawn Library
“You don’t know what you’ve got until you lose it.” Or maybe we should say, until someone threatens to take it away. But when Dallas Public Library Director Manya Shorr told “Dallas Public Library shareholders” that four of the Dallas Public Library system’s three branches — including the Oak Lawn Branch — were being recommended for closure as a cost-saving measure, the folks of the Oak Lawn community made it very cleaer that they did, indeed, know what a treasure they had in the Oak Lawn library, and they weren’t going to let it be taken away without a fight.
And it wasn’t long that Shorr and other city officials announced that they were rethinking their cost-cutting plans.
The Oak Lawn Branch Library in its current form opened in 1996 after Kroger bought the block at the intersection of Cedar Springs Road and Douglas Avenue. That purchase included the building sitting in the middle of that block that housed the library at the time. Kroger covering the cost of a new library facility situated at the corner of the store’s parking lot, on the corner of Cedar Springs and Knight Street was part of the deal.
Since opening in its new facility, the Oak Lawn Branch library has become one of the busiest library branches in the city, and it houses one of the country’s collections of LGBTQ+ books — certainly the largest such collection in Texas.
During elections, the Oak Lawn Branch Library is often the county’s busiest polling location, often with lines of voters wrapping around the building. Each election when she was in office, the late Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, whose district inclluded Oak Lawn and its library, rallied voters outside the building. That tradition continued in the 2026 Democratic Primary last month when Rep. Jasmine Crockett and Rep. Julie Johnson each held rallies in the parking lot outside the library.
When the building isn’t packed with voters, the auditorium is usually crowded and busy thanks to the many community groups that regularly meet there. That includes the Oak Lawn Library Friends, an active group that that helps provide extra funding for programs at the library, like art shows and speakers. What more could you ask for in a public service?!
In 2029, the branch will celebrate its centennial, and the community is looking forward to many more years to come of the top-notch public services Oak Lawn Branch Library offers the community.
— David Taffet
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Best in Services
Best Airline
American Airlines
Flights out of DFW International Airpots
AA.com
Best Hotel
Dallas Marriott Suites Market Center
2493 N. Stemmons Freeway
Marriott.com
214-905-0050
Best Real Estate Agent
Steve Atkinson
Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate
6025 Luther Lane
SteveAtkinson.DavePerryMiller.com
214-334-7404
Best Insurance Agent
Ray Scott
State Farm Insurance
4144 N. Central Expressway, Ste. 700
StateFarm.com›Ray-Ccott-myv5n7vhbak
469-372-5925
Best Legal Professionals
Burch Law
7920 Beltline Road, Ste. 700
Burch-Law.com
972-457-3172
Best Fitness Specialists
Wesley Watson and Anthony Mancilla
JAMC Fit
JAMCFit.com
Best Salon
Salon Aura
3910 Cedar Springs Road
SalonAuraDallas.com
214-443-0454
Best Place to Get a Massage
The Now Massage
4428 Lemmon Ave.
TheNowMassage.com
469-501-1275
(Other locations available)
Best Moving Company
Fantastic Moves
10610 Metric Drive, Ste. 175
FantasticMoves.com
214-349-6683
Best Travel Agent/Agency
Cruise2Next
LGBTQ-Friendly Cruise Services
Cruise2Next.com
info@cruise2next.com • 214-924-3484