40 years of impact
From left Dennis Vercher, Rex Ackerman, Don Ritz and Robert Moore Dallas Voice’s trailblazing journey through LGBTQ history CAROLINE SAVOIE | Contributing Writer CaroSavoWrites@gmail.com Tears brimmed in Robert Moore’s eyes as he talked about how far Dallas Voice has come since the co-founder of the paper “stumbled” into the publishing business in 1984. “I had no idea the impact that Dallas Voice would have on the LGBTQ+ community, other papers and Dallas as a whole,” he said, taking off his glasses to wipe a tear from his cheek. “I couldn’t have ever imagined.” In 1984, Moore, Don Ritz and William Marberry each invested $250 to start Dallas Voice.
Marberry was the publisher; Ritz was the editor, and Moore was the advertising director at the time of the paper’s first 24-page publication on May 11, 1984.
With a background in sales, Moore realized he could help the paper take off. And that it did. The Critical Era: 1984-1995 In its first year on newsstands, the Voice became a member of the Gay Press Association.
In its second year, Ritz and Moore bought out Marberry and moved production from Houston to Dallas. Dennis Vercher III started as the paper’s editor, and Ritz and Moore founded the National Gay Newspaper Guild.
