Bowers, who was running unopposed, was unfazed. Lawyer-real estate agent David Bowers experienced such apparent tolerance first-hand when, during his bid for a third term on City Council in 1998, he was denounced in a newspaper advertisement as a homosexual. Elsewhere in the Houston area, no more than 33 percent agreed, and in Montgomery and Fort Bend counties, the total dropped to about 25 percent. Forty-five percent of island participants believed such marriages should be given legal status. Now, Villagran's visitor's center, which functions as a travel agency and clearing house for tips on entertainment, real estate, health services and gay-friendly businesses, occupies a prominent spot near the heart of the city's tourist district.Ī recent Houston-area survey by Rice University sociology professor and pollster Stephen Klineberg found Galveston residents the region's most liberal on the key issue of gay marriage. This year, roughly 8,000 revelers turned out for the summer Splash Day celebration on East Beach and, in October, throngs jammed the Strand for the city's first gay pride festival. Last year, Harbor Metropolitan Community Church, catering to gay worshippers, opened on 39th Street.
