Another Busy H-town Saturday

This Saturday was a busy one, but in a good way for me.

I was invited to take part in a panel discussion for the New Leaders Council with Lura Groen and Judge Steven Kirkland about being a progressive leader in diverse communities on the fourth floor of the Legacy Health Services building in Montrose. .

The panel started a little after 11 PM, and it was a lively two way one and a half hour conversation that I hope the NLC fellows not only enjoyed but gleaned some lessons out of it.

I then went home and attempted to rest for a few hours, then get freshened up and dressed for the 19th annual Houston HRC Gala at the Hilton Americas Hotel in the downtown Convention Center District at the invitation of Lou Weaver.  .

Dee Dee was headed to Spring High School to support their GSA for an on campus event they were having that started at 7 PM, so the game plan was to bounce out of the crib at 6 PM, she drop me off, and she would continue to Spring High on the far north side.

But we ran into bumper to bumper traffic on I-45 that started past Loop 610 and was creeping along a such a snails pace that we eventually jumped ff I-45 and took side streets to the Hilton Americas.  the end result was I didn't get to the hotel until 6:50 PM, and got to the second floor ballroom moments later

Despite me not getting enough time to my liking to say hello to everyone there for what we call locally 'Houston Gay Prom', I did get to sit at Lou's table with my activist mentor Judge Phyllis Frye and her lovely wife Trish, and Mike Webb, who moderated the NLC panel I'd done that morning

The Houston human rights warriors were in the house in full effect   Got to see Januari Leo for the first time in months, Melissa Vivanco was looking fab along with Fran and Kim Watson, Crystal Solares, Jeffry Faircloth and a long list of people I managed to get conversations in with along with getting a chance to eat before i had to leave.  .  

I also got to see in the two and a half hours I was there everyone from City Councilmember Robert Gallegos to Rep Sheila Jackson-Lee to our former mayor Annise Parker.   I missed the speech that Houston homegirl Loretta Devine gave, but I was in the room for HRC president Chad Griffin's speech where i once again got an unexpected shout out along with Dee Dee Watters and Judge Frye.  

It was a busy H-town Saturday for me, but enjoyable.