One of the services Pride Houston provides to our GLBT community is maintaining the Lower Westheimer Banner District in the heart of the Montrose. The banner district, which runs along both sides of Westheimer between Taft and Yoakum, was granted to the organization by the City of Houston in 1995.

Operating the banner district allows Pride Houston to place cloth banners on 13 viable metal utility poles in the alloted area. The banner district can run no further west of Yoakum because the use of wooden utility poles begins just west of the intersection of Yoakum and Westheimer. However, in 2004 Pride Houston requested the City and CenterPoint Energy to grant an eastward extension of the banner district to Bagby. We should know whether the request has been granted in time to consider putting up more of our banners in 2006.

Initially, the banners placed by the Pride Committee formed large pink triangles. After several years of wear and tear, the triangles were retired after Pride '99 and replaced with the current, more colorful rainbow banners starting in 2000. The banners are put up around Memorial Day weekend and stay up all summer, the season of Pride.