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MARION PANTZER, 1919 - 1986 In 1973, Marion Pantzer and Lynn Hornaday opened Just Marion and Lynn's at 817 Fairview, one of Houston's very first bars for lesbians. Like many of the earliest gathering places in our community, Just Marion and Lynn's was a no-frills affair, but it gave women a much needed place to be with other women. In 1983, in part because
of her efforts to provide such places, Marion Things were changing in
Montrose, however. In the 1980s, businesses were frequently targets
for crime and theft, and these tensions were exacerbated in November
1985 by the referendum defeat of a city non-discrimination ordinance
protecting gays and lesbians. Community journalist Nancy Ford writes of Marion's death: "Montrose went crazy. Disbelievers, both male and female, swarmed the tiny bar begging for the news not to be true. Marion's subsequent funeral was one of the largest and best attended in our city's history, with hundreds of community folk, business owners, police officers, drag queens, military personnel, and politicians paying their respects. One of the final registrants in the guestbook was Kathy Whitmire, the mayor of Houston."
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