Dallas' Oak Lawn neighborhood receives states' first LGBT historical marker

DALLAS - Dallas' Oak Lawn neighborhood has been honored with the state's first historical marker for the LGBT community.

The marker was unveiled Wednesday evening at the intersection of Throckmorton Street and Cedar Springs Road just outside JR's Bar and Grill.

Members of the LGBTQ community call it ‘The Crossroads,’ the place where change happened for gay rights in Dallas. They called Wednesday night's unveiling celebration an event that was decades in the making.

"Tonight we celebrate, but we also remember,” said Senior Pastor Neil Cazares-Thomas with the Cathedral of Hope. “We celebrate the landmark that this is, but we remember those that came before us and who have made this landmark an absolute possibility."

This is where Texas' first gay pride parade happened. It’s also where gay rights activists organized, especially in the 1980s during the AIDS epidemic.

Cece Cox is CEO of the Resource Center.

"For years and decades, our community has been focused on saving lives,” Cox said. “Whether folks were impacted by hate crimes or the youth that experienced discrimination and bullying or whether people were impacted by HIV. And so this might be a reflection of we have accomplished a lot over those years and things are progressing."

"This is a landmark in Texas,” Cazares-Thomas proclaimed.

A group called The Dallas Way worked with the Dallas County Historical Commission and Texas Historical Commission to make this happen.

Another message they got across tonight -- to vote in the November election.