A personal perspective
Jack Evans and George Harris get the first same-sex marriage license in Dallas County. (Photo by David Taffet) Looking back at my life with Dallas Voice Forty years ago, things were changing for the LGBTQ community in Dallas and around the country.
National organizations were forming, and here, at home in Dallas, Resource Center was created; Congregation Beth El Binah was worshipping; Lambda Weekly was broadcasting, and Dallas Voice began publishing.
Of course, AIDS was just hitting the community. In 1984, a mysterious illness was attacking gay men in New York, San Francisco and even Houston, but we were sure it wouldn’t travel up I-45 and hit us here in Dallas.
But by the end of the year, we had experienced our first deaths caused by this mysterious illness. Because AIDS only seemed to be attacking gay men, the response from the mainstream community was an overwhelming “I don’t care.” And met with that attitude, the LGBTQ community in Dallas decided we’d just have to take care of ourselves.
