A Discovery Green picnic start

Power through Pride: Your cheat sheet to Houston's gayest weekend, the parade &more

Anthony Rapp, also known as Mark from RENT.
Jonathan Lovitz, celebrity grand marshal and relationship counselor on LOGO TV'sSetup Squad
Live music is part of the daytime celebration at the Pride Festival.

Gaggles of gays (and their friends) are gearing up for this weekend's Pride Houston festivities. Here's your guide to the homo hullabaloo:

1. Bring your picnic blanket to Discovery Green on Friday at 8 p.m. for Rainbow on the Green, presented by Land Rover Houston Central. The star of the show is Anthony Rapp, also known as Mark from the original cast of RENT. Also performing on the Anheuser-Busch Stage will be Pride Idol 2010 champion Brittni Jackson.

Look for other cameos by Miss Money, Sara Jackson, Tye Blue and the F Bar Dreamgirls: Kara Dion, Tara Dion and Christina Ross. The event is free, and beer and wine will be available for purchase.

2. The official Pride Rock the Runway event opens at 8 p.m. on Friday as well, but the runway doesn't actually get rocking until 9. Presented by Ciroc Vodka at South Beach Night Club, the event allows some fine local models to flaunt their assets in tight ensembles from Male U Wear, Bayou Beau, Unico and other labels. American Idol's Kimberly Locke will debut her new, secretly-titled single following the catwalk show.

By this point, you should have flirted your way into an invitation to an after-party.

3. Daytime divas come out to play at the Houston Pride Festival, located in the Montrose neighborhood south of Westheimer Road along the streets of Commonwealth and Yoakum. Expect a diverse mix of exhibitors, artists, music and garden variety performers.

Seek out special art exhibits from such institutions as the Charles Botts Memorial Archives and Library and Gulf Coast Archive & Museum of GLBT History. Admission is free, and exhibitors are cash-only. Hours are 1 to 7 p.m. Saturday.

4. This is what you've all been waiting for — the parade. This year's procession begins at the intersection of Westheimer and Dunlavy at 8:15 p.m. Saturday following a 7:45 p.m. pre-parade show. VIP bleachers, with complimentary water and cocktails, are located along the south side of Westheimer between Mt. Vernon and Waugh.

Early arrival is advised for the general admission bleachers along the south side of Westheimer between Waugh and Montrose. Tips: The on-site ATMs close at 7 p.m., and avoid parking in the El Real and Radio Shack parking lots.

Serving as celebrity grand marshal is Jonathan D. Lovitz of LOGO TV's Setup Squad.

5. By this point, you should have flirted your way into an invitation to an after-party. Play safe, boys and girls.

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Texas shocks as the No. 3 least safe state in America, new report says

Photo by Lukas Souza on Unsplash

Texas ranks as the 48th "safest" state — out of 50.

While no state is invulnerable, some do more to protect their residents than others. And a new study has declared Texas one of the five least safe states in America.

WalletHub's "Safest States in America (2026)" report examined all 50 states for their emergency preparedness and for residents' personal and residential, financial, workplace, and road safety. Factors that weighed into the rankings include specific crime rates per capita, the share of the population that is uninsured, road quality ratings, workplace injury statistics, and more.

Texas ranked at the bottom of the list as the 48th "safest" state — or the third least safe state. It's joined by several other Southern states, like Mississippi (No. 50), Louisiana (No. 49), Florida (No. 47), and Arkansas (No. 46).

According to WalletHub, Texas specifically ranks third to last in the nationwide "emergency preparedness" category, which was determined based on the prevalence of climate disasters causing $1 billion or more in damages from 1980-2024, and the loss amount resulting from those disasters.

The Lone Star State also ranked 40th (or 10th worst) across three safety categories: personal and residential safety, financial safety, and road safety. The report additionally found that Texas has the highest rate of uninsured residents nationally.

Texas' "workplace safety" was the state's highest-ranking category, landing 30th nationally.

Additional rankings that determined Texas' overall safety include:

No. 30 – Assaults per capita
No. 32 – Fatal occupational injuries per 100,000 full-time workers
No. 32 – Sex offenders per capita
No. 35 – Murders and non-negligent manslaughters per capita
No. 36 – Fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles of travel
No. 41 – Loss amounts from climate disasters per capita

According to the report, the five safest states in America are all located in the Northeast. Vermont leads as the country's safest state in 2026, followed by Massachusetts (No. 2), Maine (No. 3), New Hampshire (No. 4), and Connecticut (No. 5).

Though every state has varying levels of safety, WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo asserted that the safest places in the U.S. categorically invest in protecting their residents. Top-ranking states have low crime rates and diligently maintain their road infrastructure, and other states that prioritize their residents' safety have "strong economies and job markets that prevent people from falling into dangerous financial situations."

"[The safest states in America] have high levels of occupational safety and disaster preparedness, too," Lupo said. "In addition, states are made safer by efforts that individual residents take, such as forming a neighborhood watch or working in firefighting and EMT jobs at high rates."

safety texas wallethub reports