Before the AIDS crisis
JD Doyle tells the story of a road trip he took just before HIV hit Texas DAVID TAFFET | Senior Staff Writer taffet@dallasvoice.com In 1981: My Gay American Road Trip, JD Doyle sets out on a cross-country adventure a year before the AIDS epidemic overtook the gay community.
During his trip, Doyle discovers Texas, eventually settling in Houston. One fun chapter in the book is all about his visit to Dallas, where he parties on Cedar Springs and describes recently-opened bars, including a one-story JR.’s, TMC (where Sue Ellen’s now stands) and the Round-Up Saloon.
Doyle was in Dallas recently for a meeting of the Gay Press Association and described Mark Segal, still publisher of the Philadelphia Gay News as “on the ball although perhaps a little pushy, or let’s say, very self-assured.” Great description, although Segal has mellowed some over the years.
A must-see picture is one taken at the corner of Oak Lawn and Cedar Springs of the eight-story landmark Omni Melrose hotel there.
