{"id":469611,"date":"2026-10-18T11:26:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T11:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/469611\/"},"modified":"2026-10-18T11:26:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T11:26:11","slug":"why-thousands-of-pieces-of-houstons-gay-history-are-sitting-in-storage-units","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/469611\/","title":{"rendered":"Why thousands of pieces of Houston’s gay history are sitting in storage units"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Loyd Powell and Robert Conn lead me through a maze-like storage facility in North Houston<\/a>, we pass countless green metal doors, behind each one the ephemera of someone’s memories. After several sharp lefts and rights, Powell and Conn stop in front of two double-wide storage units. Conn struggles with an unwieldy key ring before unlocking the door.<\/p>\n

Inside the two storage units is a treasure trove of Texas’ LGBTQ+ history<\/a>-Leather vests, drag costumes, wigs, bar signs and posters, gigantic photos of drag queens. Boxes are filled with photos, and books are stacked to the ceiling. Conn and Powell have ten more stuffed with stuff donated from Houston’s LGBTQ+ community: friends, some long gone and some still kicking; family members; activists; strangers.<\/p>\n

“We also have a lot of porn,” Conn jokes. “Tons of porn,” Powell chimes in. The porn, they tell me, is upstairs in another storage unit.<\/p>\n

\"Loyd<\/p>\n

Loyd Powell shows off leather vests in storage. Originally intended to showcase the history of Houston’s gay leather community, the Heart of Leather foundation now aims to preserve all of the city’s LGBTQ+ history. (Gwen Howerton\/Chron.com)<\/p>\n

Conn and Powell, lifelong Houstonians who have been together since 1985, are the force behind the Heart of Leather foundation<\/a>, a nonprofit that preserves and catalogues Houston’s LGBTQ+ history<\/a> for future generations. The porn in their possession is more than just porn; its one small part of the lifetimes-worth of objects that have ended up in Conn and Powell’s archive. Much of the collection came from a group formerly known as the Gulf Coast Archive and Museum of Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual History (GCAM), started in 1999.<\/p>\n

“As people were dying, their families would come in and they would just throw everything away,” Conn explained. “[GCAM] started spreading the word, and people would call them to come get stuff before it was thrown away to just preserve people’s lives, basically their history.”<\/p>\n

Much of that “stuff” now sits in Conn and Powell’s storage units until they can fulfill their dream of opening a physical museum of LGBTQ+ history in Houston.<\/p>\n

“It needs a home of its own and a museum that belongs to the community,” Powell said. “It’s not our stuff. It’s just a gift right now, and what we’re doing is a gift to the community.”<\/p>\n

Conn and Powell may be the archive’s stewards. But much of the work was done by Judy Reeves.<\/p>\n

“We wanted our due.”<\/p>\n

Reeves remembers gathering with a dozen other community activists in 1999 to create Texas’ first physical LGBTQ+ history museum. From that meeting, GCAM was born. Having just lived through the AIDS epidemic when hospitals, insurance companies, funeral homes and their own families wouldn’t touch many of them, Reeves and her compatriots decided it was critical to preserve what had happened.<\/p>\n

“We wanted our due, so to speak,” Reeves told Chron. “We do not want the community of LGBT people to be forgotten or passed over.”<\/p>\n

During the 1980s, Reeves was part of the Buddy Program, where she and countless others provided in-home care to Houstonians suffering from HIV and AIDS. Reeves would often sit with the sick while their partners would run errands or work. Reeves was sometimes the only one present when the AIDS-stricken would die.<\/p>\n

“I held the hand of many a dying patient while their lovers went to the grocery store or got gas or paid bills or whatever, because they didn’t want their partners there to see them die,” Reeves said. “I think that was the most important thing for me, that I could be there to help these people cross.”<\/p>\n

Reeves served as GCAM’s curator for 25 years, cataloging thousands of fliers, posters, protest signs, T-shirts, community publications-just about anything she could get her hands on. Some of the first materials she collected came from a community member offloading boxes after his partner died. She estimates the collection has more than 35,000 items, all of which now sit in Powell and Conn’s storage units in the Heights.<\/p>\n

\"Robert<\/p>\n

Robert Conn shows off books of photographs in storage on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026. (Gwen Howerton\/Chron.com)<\/p>\n

“Leather is tough and durable and lasts.”<\/p>\n

After 25 years, Reeves became weary of the work. She approached the couple about taking ownership of the archive materials and running GCAM after meeting them through community radio station KPFT. Originally, Conn and Powell wanted to focus on the leather community, given the archive’s extensive collection of leather vests and costumes and their own familiarity. But they quickly realized the collection needed to represent everyone under the LGBTQ+ umbrella. Though the foundation is named Heart of Leather, Conn said it represents the community’s resilience.<\/p>\n

“We are collecting for everybody, for all of the community. Our history is the heart of our community,” Conn said. “Leather is tough and durable and lasts, and that’s what we want our history to do also.”<\/p>\n

Finding a physical space for the archive has been a new endeavor for Conn and Powell, and they have been in contact with several charitable foundations and the Houston Fire Museum to learn more about running a museum. In the meantime, and to build interest in their project, the couple has shown off select items to the public. Last month, Heart of Leather exhibited memorabilia from Mary’s, the iconic Houston gay bar that closed in 2009, at the Midtown Arts and Theater Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Pieces<\/p>\n

Pieces of the bar top from Mary’s Naturally bar in storage on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026. Each photo on the bar represents a community member with AIDS. Pieces of Mary’s, the famous gay bar that closed in 2009, are some of the Heart of Leather Foundation’s most important pieces. (Gwen Howerton\/Chron.com)<\/p>\n

\"Robert<\/p>\n

Robert Conn shows off the iconic “Gay St.” sign from the bar at Mary’s in Houston. Pieces of Mary’s, the famous gay bar that closed in 2009, are some of the Heart of Leather Foundation’s most important pieces. (Gwen Howerton\/Chron.com)<\/p>\n

The items from Mary’s are some of the collection’s most important; Conn and Powell have the original metal “Gay St.” sign that sat atop the bar, as well as several versions of the famous murals that graced the bar’s outside. To Powell, the crown jewel are the bar tops, which he called the “most iconic piece of our community’s history.” During the height of the AIDS pandemic, Mary’s owner glued photos of community members to the bar top and had them covered with resin. Conn and Powell were able to save them and reassemble them for display.<\/p>\n

\"Pieces<\/p>\n

Pieces of the bar top from Mary’s Naturally bar in storage on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026. Each photo on the bar represents a community member with AIDS. Pieces of Mary’s, the famous gay bar that closed in 2009, are some of the Heart of Leather Foundation’s most important pieces. (Gwen Howerton\/Chron.com)<\/p>\n

“Trying to preserve that information for the next generation.”<\/p>\n

Being able to showcase Mary’s to new generations has been the pride of the couple’s lifetime. After the exhibit, many community members offered to volunteer to catalogue items or make the museum a reality. One community member even volunteered to digitally scan the photos on the Mary’s bartops and turn them into a searchable database. An exhibit in March will cover Houston’s rich history of LGBTQ+ activism.<\/p>\n

“We’ve been actively involved in the community for 40 years,” Powell said. “Everything we’ve done together, it’s all brought some joy, but nothing has ever brought me personally as much joy as doing this. So we really want to see this succeed.”<\/p>\n

For Conn, preserving the story of institutions like Mary’s is more than just saving memories of a popular hangout. It’s a way to pass down community history and traditions to younger LGBTQ+ people, something he didn’t have. Conn said many of the people who he considered mentors did not survive the AIDS crisis.<\/p>\n

“We lost that generation because it was the early 80s and we didn’t have the medications to keep people alive,” Conn said. “We’re trying to preserve that information for the next generation so that we can learn, so that we don’t repeat the mistakes we’ve made in the past.”<\/p>\n

For Reeves, whose work is now in the hands of Powell and Conn, she hopes that she’s able to see it get the museum it deserves.<\/p>\n

“I would love to see that before I die, literally,” Reeves said. “And I think I’ve earned that privilege.”<\/p>\n

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This article originally published at Why thousands of pieces of Houston’s gay history are sitting in storage units<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Loyd Powell and Robert Conn lead me through a maze-like storage facility in North Houston, we pass…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":469612,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":["post-469611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=469611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/469612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=469611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=469611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=469611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}