RIPCORD Continues Its LGBT and Leather Traditions For Over Three Decades In Montrose

The PRIDE parade may be moving to another part of town this year, but the LGBT community in Montrose is still thriving. Houston Press recently did a feature on the 35-year-old institution know as RIPCORD, which “caters to the leather/Levis crowd,” as indicated by the fact it is attached to Black Hawk Leather (711 Fairview) and regularly hosts get togethers for a variety of organizations like the National Leather Association.

The Press mentions the facts that the “Montrose staple” is the oldest leather bar and the second-oldest gay bar in the entire state of Texas and is “refreshing” to see that “while the landscape and the people of the neighborhood have changed, RIPCORD has not.”

Loyd, the Houston chapter president of the National Leather Association offers these parting words about the “true gem” in Montrose, with an exterior that “might not look like much”: “The Ripcord is a melting pot of open-minded gay, lesbian, straight, bisexual and transgendered people.” And that is hopefully enough to propel it for yet another three decades of business at 715 Fairview.