A Dallas legend
Celebrating Betty Neal on her birthday and her decades of work for the Black, LGBTQ communities MELISSA WHITLER | Contributing Writer editor@dallasvoice.com Originally from Fayetteville, Ark., Betty Neal moved to Dallas back in 1979 after two of her friends moved to the city.
Having just graduated beauty school, she got a job at Sassy’s Bar, DJing and working the door. And she never looked back. Neal racked up a lot of firsts during her high school years: the first Black member of the prestigious Elite 26 Club (13 sophomores and 13 seniors chosen each year by teachers to plan proms and events); first president of the group PBS Promotion of Black Students; the first Arkansas All-Around State Champion in Track and Field, breaking records in shot put and discus.
And with all those firsts, leading was something that came naturally to Neal. “I knew in small groups I could influence people, but I never looked at the big picture,” she reflected, noting that it wasn’t until the 1980s, when her Black friends told her they weren’t able to get into certain clubs in the Gayborhood, that her activism started to bloom. “It presented me with a challenge,” Neal said, “and I started to feel like I wasn’t doing enough for my community.
I started to see the big picture.” Her work grew from there. She began to educate herself and the Black LGBTQ community as she continued to work in the nightlife business.
