From the Progress flags hanging from most storefronts to the rainbow crosswalks, it’s easy to tell North Main Avenue is San Antonio’s gayborhood, but now the city has made it official. This week, the Historic and Design Review Commission voted in favor of designating the strip the Pride Cultural Heritage District.

The corridor between San Antonio College and Tobin Hill, also known as the “gay strip” or “Main strip,” has long been a hub of LGBT-plus cultural life, hosting several bars and queer-owned businesses. The annual Pride Bigger than Texas Parade will march through the street on July 28.

The district was first proposed by District 1 Councilmember Sukh Kaur and District 2 Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez in 2023. Prior to the official designation, staff collected oral histories and public statements to beef up the claims of the area’s historical significance.

“The North Main Avenue corridor, the Gay Strip, is a place of comfort and safety for members of the LGBTQIA+ community,” McKee-Rodriguez said in a 2023 press release about the proposal. “As the first openly gay man elected to City Council and the first openly gay Black man elected to any public office in Texas, I’m proud to collaborate with Councilwoman Kaur to honor and celebrate LGBTQIA+ History Month with the official filing of this request.”

The City of San Antonio established the heritage districts in 2005 to recognize neighborhoods with unique historical and cultural importance. In April 2024, it named an area along the Wurzbach corridor near the Medical Center the Silk Road Cultural Heritage District in recognition of the traditions of Middle Eastern, North African, and Asian immigrants.

The designation is welcome news to the San Antonio LGBT-plus community, still reeling from the murder of King of the Hill actor Jonathan Joss at the beginning of Pride Month. In a Facebook statement, Joss’ husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales, alleged the shooting was a hate crime motivated by the actors’ sexuality and indigenous heritage. San Antonio Police initially denied the crime was motivated by hatred, later walking back the claims after a nationwide outrage.