HOUSTON, Texas — June is Pride Month, and we’re celebrating some of the amazing people who are blazing trails in the LGBTQ+ community.

Julie Mabry, the entrepreneur behind Pearl Bar Houston, the city’s sole lesbian bar, and Side Peace Sports Bar, the first women’s sports bar in Houston, had a longstanding ambition to establish a welcoming environment where individuals are embraced for their true selves.

“I launched Pearl because, during my teenage years, my sister, who is also gay, faced numerous challenges,” Mabry explained. “It wasn’t merely about coming out, but in the eighties, as she began exploring her identity, we visited a gay club in San Antonio, Texas. I observed a shift in her demeanor; she felt secure, and that had a profound impact on me. It inspired me to create such a welcoming space.”

In 2013, Mabry inaugurated Pearl Bar with the aim of offering a sanctuary for Houston’s LGBTQ+ community to form bonds, forge friendships, and feel truly at home.

“The experience that I hope people have when they come to Pearl Bar, which is something that I’ve witnessed thousands of times, that there are actually bars that specifically cater to the lesbian-trans community. Most people don’t even realize that we exist, and/or that there’s only two in Texas.”

She opened Side Peace Sports earlier this year next door to Pearl Bar.

“Side Peace Sports is a new concept that we started that is more focused on women’s sports,” said Mabry. “We obviously show all sports. We let everybody in, as long as they’re respectful to our community.”

Click on the video above to see the difference that both spaces are making in the community!