By Johnny Trlica If “that which does not kill us makes us stronger,” there is a drag performer across the Galveston causeway who should have the strength of Superman and Wonder Woman combined. Chachie Pedraza Van Wales works and performs at Robert’s Lafitte where, depending on the day, one may find him bartending and hosting

By Johnny Trlica  Commentary: There was pride long before the first Pride parades. It showed up wherever LGBTQ+ people had the courage to gather as a group, most notably in bars and pubs. The taverns were like our church, and not just because some patrons spent a lot of time on their knees there. (There, I said it

Stay focused and united By Johnny Trlica Commentary: Parts of the past year have felt like living in an episode of Survivor. We’ve been isolated and had to provide food, fire, and shelter for ourselves. We have been tested both physically and mentally and have been progressively eliminated — too many of us did not

Bars and restaurants running short-staffed   By Johnny Trlica Commentary: No industry was hit harder by the pandemic than the hospitality industry. Bars and restaurants were forcibly closed. Then allowed to open. Then forced to close again.  Business owners were left without any source of income for months at a time. Millions of service industry employees were laid

By Johnny Trlica Commentary: All too often people stay in their own little bubble, rarely venturing out to see what’s happening beyond their own comfort zone. Fox News viewers never change the channel to get a different opinion, Whataburger lovers won’t be caught dead at an In-N-Out and gay men will not frequent a bar

By Johnny Trlica Commentary: They knew it would happen sooner or later. They were betting on later. They lost and Texans paid with their lives. Back when George W. Bush was governor and drag queens did more than twirl their wigs and jump off stages landing in a split, the Texas power grid was deregulated

By Johnny Trlica Commentary: My mother taught me many life lessons. Haste makes waste. Be careful what you wish for. Wear clean underwear.  If you screw it up, fix it.  That last one may be the hardest. It involves being honest with yourself and held accountable. When I was around nine or ten, my mother

By Johnny Trlica Commentary: “When we remember a time, we remember moments, a kaleidoscope of the sights, the sounds, the emotions that remind us of the way we were,” said the introduction to a 1986 ABC series called “Our World.” Looking through the kaleidoscope of 2020 does not present a pretty picture. Instead of brightly

By Johnny Trlica Commentary: Before this year, 2020 was synonymous with cheap liquor and bad hangovers. Pandemics were only read about in medical journals and fascism was what we watched on the History Channel. While over 70 million Americans looked at the last four years and said, “Yes, give me four more years of that,”

By Johnny Trlica Commentary: It’s the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat. And when the contest is over, we meet at midfield, shake hands and go to happy hour together. In sports, yes, but not in politics. Politics is a blood sport and to the victor go the spoils. Long before a winner was