Spring is our favorite time to visit Dallas, and if you can’t make it for the festival, plan on going May 9-12 for Purple Party.

The festival begin earlier this week and runs through April 13. Two major docu-dramas, ‘ Queens & Cowboys’ – following a year in the life of a gay rodeo – and “ Tomato Republic” – a fascinating portrait of a gay man running for mayor in uber-conservative (to out it mildly) Jacksonville– are two of several gay-themed films making waves and eliciting raves from the festival’s increasingly liberal audience. For the second straight year, the annual Dallas film festival has been a showcase of gay films that have taken over the headlines, highlighting an emerging trend of compassion for gay issues from a state known for its staunch conservative ideals.

Austin has always been the blue dot in red Texas, but it’s Dallas’ burgeoning gay renaissance that has us eager to revisit this Lone Star city.