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LGBTQ Nightclub Opens This Weekend in West Houston

Anthony Hernandez unveils House HTX.

House HTX owner Anthony Hernandez (Facebook)

LGTBQ activist and local party planner Anthony Hernandez (who is also known as Anthony Uncensored) turned The Big Three-O last May 14.

“It was during COVID, so I didn’t celebrate,” says Hernandez. “So, this year I wanted to do something big—maybe travel somewhere.”

But Hernandez isn’t going anywhere. Instead, he’s throwing a big community bash at his new club in West Houston.

“I worked at [the previous club in this building] for two years as a special-events planner,” he says. “I brought in the LGBTQ business and built up business on Friday nights. It was a home for the community—a safe and fun space.”

But then things changed with that club’s management, and Hernandez says the atmosphere just didn’t seem so welcoming any more. When he was told his services were no longer needed, he left—and so did the LGBTQ crowds who followed him.

“About two months later I heard they filed for bankruptcy and closed the club,” he says. ”I knew the leasing company, and asked them about the property. They said that because the lease was still in effect, the space would have to be left empty.”

7 months ago I was FIRED from this venue – I put my blood sweat in tears into this place to be successful and it was…

Posted by Anthony Hernandez on Wednesday, May 12, 2021

So he waited for seven months and was first in line when the lease finally expired and the space was ready to rent again. He signed a lease for the property at 9232 Richmond Ave. on April 12.

“The first thing I did was take the name off the building,” he explains. “And then completely renovated the 3,000-square-foot space. We don’t have a kitchen, but we do have a full bar and special sections.” They also have gender-neutral restrooms and will follow the City’s COVID sanitation and safety guidelines.

Hernandez calls his new club House HTX because “it was our home, our house, and now it really is a home for the community. We have trans men and women, lesbians and gays, and all races working here. I want it to be very diverse. I want anyone who comes in to feel completely comfortable.” 

So on May 14, Hernandez’s 31st birthday, House HTX will open to the public with a big splash advertised as the Anthony Uncensored Official Birthday Celebration. It will be a three-day-long event featuring DJs and late-night dancing. Hernandez calls the club Houston’s official gay after-hours place, and he hopes that other LGBTQ businesses and organizations will rent the space for special events.

“It’s like God told me: ‘I don’t want you [to just work at this club], I want you to own it,’” Hernandez emphasizes. “So it’s our house now—House HTX.”

House HTX 
9232 Richmond Ave.
More info: HouseHTX on Instagram

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Marene Gustin

Marene Gustin has written about Texas culture, food, fashion, the arts, and Lone Star politics and crime for television, magazines, the web and newspapers nationwide, and worked in Houston politics for six years. Her freelance work has appeared in the Austin Chronicle, Austin-American Statesman, Houston Chronicle, Houston Press, Texas Monthly, Dance International, Dance Magazine, the Advocate, Prime Living, InTown magazine, OutSmart magazine and web sites CultureMap Houston and Austin, Eater Houston and Gayot.com, among others.
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