How’s Houston for LGBTQ+ folks these days?

Hey folks!

Houstonian here, born and raised. I lived in Houston until about 2001 and then moved away for work. I grew up there, graduated high school there, went to HCC, fell in love with BBQ, the rodeo, and became pretty much who I am there.

Since then, I've lived in Philly, Hong Kong (Briefly), San Diego, LA, San Jose, Salt Lake City, and Park City. I've traveled the world over several times. I still come home to Houston about 2-4 times a year to visit my family and friends but when I'm there, the majority of my time goes to family and I rarely go out and do social things. Now that I'm older, the call of family has me really considering my long-term plans.

That being said, all the news I see about Texas these days scares me a bit. As a member of the LGBTQ community and a 2nd generation Mexican, sadly the news (Be it fox news, CNN, NPR, you name it) repeatedly tells me that I'm not really welcome in Texas anymore since about 2016. While I miss my family a ton, the politics of the west coast are a lot more forgiving for women like me and my fiance.

I figured I'd go straight to the source – other Houstonians!

How is the culture in Houston these days for marginalized classes? Do folks in that community find it safe? Is there frequent harassment? Or is Houston as diverse and accepting as I remember?

Thanks!