2021 Charlotte Pride Magazine

Charlotte Pride Magazine

October 2021 / Volume 3

CHARLOTTE

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Champions of Pride Charlotte Pride Scholars Equality Across Carolina

Black Leaders Who Inspire Queer Year in Review Community Resources

Charlotte Pride Magazine

The Charlotte Pride Team BOARD OF DIRECTORS Daniel Valdez (he/him/his), President Clark Simon (he/him/his), Vice President Megan Jones (she/her/hers), Secretary Lee Robertson (he/him/his), Treasurer Ilora Bhattacharya (she/her/hers), Director Heather Brodbeck (she/her/hers), Director Will Martin (he/him/his), Director Riley Murray (she/they), Director Brisa Ramirez (she/her/hers), Director STAFF Jerry Yelton (they/them/theirs) Programs & Development Director Matt Comer (he/him/his) Communications Director 2021 TEAM COORDINATORS Adam Bowling (he/him/his; they/them/theirs) Kyle Critcher (he/him/his) Dustin Crites (he/him/his) Tiffany Crooks (she/her/hers) Glory Elizabeth (she/her/hers) Raquandra Davis (she/her/hers) Mary Beth DiPaola (she/her/hers) Dan Foreman (he/him/his) Jenny Gunn (she/her/hers; they/them/theirs) Michelle Hartz (she/her/hers) Troy McElrath (he/him/his) Wes McNeely (he/him/his) Sarah Moore (she/her/hers) Shadana Moses (she/her/hers) Juliet Peters (she/her/hers) Melissa Renaud (all pronouns applicable) Calli Robles (she/her/hers) Kayla Schultz (she/her/hers) Ebony Shuford (they/them/theirs) Lupe Silva (he/him/his) Alissa Smith (she/her/hers) Holly Sullivan (she/her/hers) Delilah Turner-Nix (she/her/hers) Victor Valdez (he/him/his) John Walton (he/him/his) Stephen Wheeler (he/him/his) Patrice Wilson (she/her; they/them; he/him) David Zealy-Wright (he/him/his)

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CHARLOTTE PRIDE MAGAZINE October 2021. Volume 3.

A publication of Charlotte Pride, Inc. MAGAZINE EDITING & PRODUCTION Matt Comer (he/him) COPYEDITING Ilora Bhattacharya (she/her) Jerry Yelton (they/them) EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS Matthew Ablon (he/him), Anders Hare (he/him), Clay Houston (they/he), Jim Kellogg (he/him), Quin Kinard (she/her), Jeff Taylor (he/him) CHARLOTTE PRIDE, INC. PO Box 32362 Charlotte, NC 28232 info@charlottepride.org Charlotte Pride is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

No portion of this publication may be reprinted or otherwise reproduced without written permission from Charltote Pride.

For reprint or reproduction requests, contact us at media@charlottepride.org. © 2021, Charlotte Pride, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

CHARLOTTE PRIDE IS A PROUD MEMBER OF

October 2021 / Volume 3

Charlotte Pride Magazine

Magazine October 2021 / Volume 3

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WELCOME LETTER

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CHAMPIONS OF PRIDE

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CHARLOTTE PRIDE SCHOLARS

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OVERCOMING ADVERSITY Scholar Essay

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20 YEARS OF CHARLOTTE PRIDE Building on more than 40 years of legacy, Charlotte Pride celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2021

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A WEEKEND OF SERVICE Community members join together to give back in 2021 during the Charlotte Pride Weekend of Service.

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QUEER YEAR IN REVIEW

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QUEER ICONS OF 2021

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BLACK PRIDE UPDATE An update on Charlotte Black Pride’s Black Lives Matter Pledge.

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BECOMING UNSHACKLED 62 — Community Resources 66 — Interfaith Directory 68 — Prides in the Carolinas

October 2021 / Volume 3

The rainbow flag and the pink triangle waving at NC Pride 1994 in Charlotte.

Credit: Sue Henry, courtesy of King-Henry-Brockington LGBTQ Archive, UNC Charlotte Special Collections.

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THE PEOPLE OF CHARLOTTE PRIDE Say hello to just some of the beautiful human beings who volunteer to lead Charlotte Pride programs and events!

BLACK LGBTQ LEADERS SHOW THE WAY Checking in with amazing Black LGBTQ leaders who are helping make the future brighter in Charlotte.

EQUALITY ACROSS CAROLINA Five years after HB2, cities across the state, including Charlotte, pass new LGBTQ ordinances.

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Charlotte Pride works to

the unique lives and experiences of LGBTQ people in Charlotte and the Carolinas.

CHARLOTTE

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Charlotte Pride Magazine

Welcome to the 2021 Charlotte Pride Magazine W Daniel Valdez President Charlotte Pride he/him/his

Clark Simon Vice President Charlotte Pride he/him/his

October 2021 / Volume 3

hen we published this annual Charlotte Pride Magazine one year ago, none of us could have really imagined what 2021 would look like. The sense of uncertainty was still high in the air, as the year-end COVID surge kept us all from family and holiday gatherings after months of shutdowns. Glimmers of hope and optimism had begun to appear on the horizon. 2021 was looking up. The first vaccines had just been administered and an aggressive rollout was planned across the nation.

Come spring and summer, we all got a taste of that illusive and amorphous sense of “normalcy” we’d all been clamoring for since March 2020.

We knew 2021 would be different, but we hoped to be able to make some kind of traditional Pride event happen after missing it last year. Our board, volunteers, and staff worked tirelessly through the spring and early summer to design a series of events that would allow our entire community to celebrate Pride safely as the world began to open back up.

But worldwide pandemics have a mind of their own. It came with great sadness when we made the decision to postpone large events from September to October. And it pained us just four weeks later to have to make the call to transition all of our large events to a hybrid of virtual and smaller-scale in-person activities. We want you to know that your health will always come first. When we gather as one large, beautiful community to celebrate Pride again in person, we want you all there. We want you safe.

We want you well.

The challenges of the past two years have shown us great hope. We have been inspired by just how creative, innovative, resilient, and proud our community is. We’ve watched as community members have come to-

gether to support each other and take care of our collective needs. We’ve seen our volunteer leaders band together with unique ideas to continue engaging, empowering, and uplifting the community. We’ve seen how our community partners and sponsors have continued to work through the pandemic, offering their support to keep our local LGBTQ community organizations afloat through challenging and uncertain times. These acts of service, charity, and compassion are what flash through our minds when we think about what Pride means to us. Thanks to each and every single one of you who have made the world a better place over the past year. Truly, you embody the spirit of Stonewall.

You’ll see these glimmers of hope, goodwill, and Pride sprinkled throughout the pages of this year’s magazine. We’ll look back on the year that was and the events and people that made it special. You’ll peruse community-submitted art and poems.

You’ll read about the ways in which our community and its people advocate for ourselves. We’ll honor our community’s heroes and pay tribute to our past.

Above all, we hope that this year’s Charlotte Pride Magazine will bring you comfort and joy as we celebrate another year of Pride in the Queen City. We look forward to celebrating en masse and in person again in 2022!

With Pride, Daniel Valdez Charlotte Pride President he/him/his Clark Simon Charlotte Pride Vice President he/him/his

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Charlotte Pride Magazine

20 Years of Charlotte Pride 40 YEARS OF LEGACY

2021 marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of Charlotte Pride and the 40th anniversary of the first Pride events in Charlotte and North Carolina

by Matt Comer (he/him/his)

contributing research by Kayla Schultz (she/her/hers)

special thanks: Christina Wright (she/her/hers) Chief Advisor, Charlotte Pride History Project

Joshua Burford (he/him/his) Charlotte Pride History Project researcher

this article is a feature of Pride in the Piedmont: Past & Present The Charlotte Pride History Project The Charlotte Pride History Project is a program of Charlotte Pride. The Project seeks to document, collect, preserve, and present local and regional LGBTQ and Pride Movement history in Charlotte and the Carolinas. In 2022, the Project will present a physical, traveling community history exhibit, made possible by a grant from North Carolina Humanities, a statewide nonprofit and affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Learn more about the project online at charlottepride.org/history/

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riting to a close friend on January 27, 1975, Don King, a new-to-Charlotte newspaperman recently hired by The Charlotte Observer, beamed with enthusiasm and hope as he relayed “an exciting event or happening” taking shape in the Queen City. “[F]or the third week in a row a group of persons interested in forming a gay alliance of some sort met,” wrote King. “[L]ast night we met and 22 were there including a 32-year-old Northerner who said he was in on the founding of the GLF and GAA in New York,” he continued, referencing the post-Stonewall activist groups Gay Liberation Front and Gay Activists Alliance. The fledgling Charlotte activist group, for which nearly 50 years later only two physical pieces of evidence exist in the historical record, had just taken their first official action toward organization, appointing five people to its governing committee.

Even in the mid-‘70s, the Gay Liberation Movement — spawned from the riotous violence sparked by police brutality at New York City’s Stonewall Inn in June 1969 — had difficulty breaking into Charlotte, still then a sleepy southern city full of banks and churches with nascent dreams of becoming a “World-Class City.” While Georgia’s Gay Liberation Front was taking hold and successfully hosting the South’s first gay Pride march in Atlanta in 1971, a small handful of people in Charlotte would begin the Queen City’s own Gay Liberation Front chapter. The effort lasted just 18 months, opening the doors for King and others to try again mid-decade.

Even with a rebirth of a GLF/GAAstyle group in Charlotte, the kinds of early gay activism, public demonstrations, and Pride marches popping up in cities across the nation would not be seen here.

“It seems that right now there are going to be no marches of any sort,” King wrote in his 1975 letter, foretelling sentiments he would share in another letter to the same friend one year later: “Well, little Charlotte is still little Charlotte. Nothing radical is happening here…”

Charlotte’s movement for gay rights would remain relatively stagnant for the rest of the 1970s, save for the founding of North Carolina’s first but short-lived gay newspaper, the Charlotte Free Press, in 1975 and the 1977 start of Dignity, a local chapter of a national LGBTQ Catholic support group that would later morph into a largely nonreligious social group called Acceptance. Local oral historian Christina Wright argues that Charlotte, like other mid-sized southern cities of the time, would experience Gay Liberation on a different timeline, emerging only in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s and really only finding its sustained organizing power in the face of the unfolding AIDS Crisis.

THE FIRST PRIDES As shaky as it was, the groundwork laid in Charlotte in the mid1970s would pave the way for the growth of some of the city’s first successful LGBTQ organizations. King’s Acceptance acted as an activist training ground. Out of it, Charlotte’s Gay/ Lesbian Switchboard was formed.

And, it was Acceptance where King met Billie Stickell and the two formed Queen City Quordinators. More popularly called “QCQ,” the group would eventually take on the responsibility of fundraising for Charlotte’s growing number of LGBTQ organizations.

It was in June 1981 that QCQ hosted North Carolina’s very first Gay/Lesbian Pride Week events, a full week before Durham would host the state’s very first Gay/Lesbian Pride

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March. The week-long series of events included workshops, nightlife parties, an afternoon outdoor disco, a concert, softball tournament, and a rally featuring Boston activist Brian McNaught and Philadelphia’s Barbara Gittings, a founder of the New York chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis and an early co-organizer with Frank Kameny of some of the first gay rights pickets of the U.S. government.

By 1983, Charlotte’s grand Gay Pride events had shrunk, with a small event hosted in the parking lot of The Scorpio. Darryl Logsdon, who would later join the board of QCQ and help produce its newsletter, Q-Notes, happened upon the parking lot Pride.

“So, I show up,” Logsdon recalled in an oral history interview in 2015.

“And their Pride event was in the parking lot of The Scorpio… [It was] extremely lowkey, shall we say. … My personal goal from that point was, ‘Okay, next year at Pride, we need to have a public event, and it needs to be in a public space like a park or something outside.”

Logsdon’s youthful enthusiasm and zeal was lost on others. “Everyone was horrified. ‘That’s not possible in Charlotte,’” he said. But Logsdon

was determined, and so it was in June 1984, QCQ hosted its first public Gay Pride event in Park Road Park.

“At first glance, it was a typical Sunday afternoon picnic at Charlotte’s Park Road Park,” reads a Charlotte Observer article from June 25, 1984.

“After four years of organized celebrations of National Gay Pride Week in Charlotte, mostly in borrowed or rented facilities, Sunday’s picnic was the first really public event.”

Charlotte’s Pride events would follow a similar pattern throughout the rest of the ‘80s and into the early ‘90s — small, but public, Pride picnics first hosted by QCQ and later planned

by Q-Notes, which transitioned from QCQ’s newsletter to a formal monthly newspaper in June 1986.

THE YEAR THAT CHANGED IT ALL While Charlotte continued to host Pride picnics and other events, it was the Triangle region which saw sustained Pride marches. Durham had hosted the first Pride march one week after Charlotte’s events in 1981.

Five years later, Durham would pick up organizing again, after which the NC Pride March, and later a festival, would become an annual event. It

CHARLOTTE PRIDE ‘81 The highlight of Charlotte’s first Pride event in 1981 was a softball tournament pitting local gay bars’ teams against each other. Pictured here, The Scorpio’s team.

Credit: David Ratchford, courtesy of the Q-Notes Photo Archive.

was hosted primarily in the Triangle, but began traveling the state in the 1990s.

Charlotte placed a bid in 1993 to host NC Pride in June 1994. The local steering committee was intent on making Charlotte’s event different from others in the state. Expanding from just a march, NC Pride in 1994 also included an opening event on Friday with comedian Lea DeLaria, an all-day expo with workshops, vendors, and nonprofit exhibitors, an interfaith service at Marshall Park, an evening banquet, an AIDS vigil, and a Saturday night dance at Founders Hall in what is now Bank of America’s headquarters on Tryon St. On Sunday, the event culminated with the march and a rally.

When all was said and done, Charlotte’s NC Pride event was the largest the state had seen since its first events 13 years prior. Nearly 4,000 participated in the march, continued on page 18

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Charlotte Pride Magazine

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October 2021 / Volume 3

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Partners Partners Media Media October 2021 / Volume 3

SpecialSpecial ThanksThanks Norsan Norsan Media Media QCityMetro QCityMetro Queen City Nerve WCNC WFAE WFAE Queen City Radio Nerve One Radio One WCNC 9

Committed to a better world Truist is proud to be the presenting sponsor of Charlotte Pride—and we share their vision of a world where LGBTQ people are affirmed, respected, and included in their local communities.

Our purpose is to inspire and build better lives and communities. And every day, the pursuit of better drives us. That’s why we’re committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion—and boldly believe in the power of what we can achieve together.

Truist.com Truist Bank, Member FDIC. © 2021 Truist Financial Corporation. Truist, the Truist logo and Truist Purple are service marks of Truist Financial Corporation.

Charlotte Pride Magazine

CHAMPIONS

OF PRIDE 2020-2021 “Equality means more than passing laws. The struggle is really won in the hearts and minds of the community, where it really counts.”

— Barbara Gittings, Daughters of Bilitis New York chapter founder, early LGBTQ activist, and a keynote speaker at Charlotte’s first Pride Week Rally, June 1981

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harlotte Pride’s Champions of Pride Awards seek to recognize those whose work and dedication exemplify the meaning of Pride and the spirit of the Stonewall Riots. Our Champions endeavor to empower and unite LGBTQ and allied people through their leadership, service, and support. Our Champions understand the importance of celebrating our past and present while advancing LGBTQ rights and visibility.

The COVID pandemic caused a hiatus in our Champions honors in 2020. This year, Charlotte Pride is so very proud to present to the community our slate of eighth and ninth annual Champions of Pride Awards recipients for 2020 and 2021.

The leaders we honor and uplift this year are utterly deserving of praise for their community service and passion for the LGBTQ movement. But they, like all of us, are heirs of a proud history of champions. Our award recipients represent the best of our community in this particular time and place. We hope everyone in our community finds inspiration from their example, so that we all can become champions in our daily life. As Barbara Gittings, the founder of the Daughters of Bilitis New York chapter and a keynote speaker at Charlotte’s first Pride Week Rally in 1981, said, our struggle for Liberation wins only when we take a leap to change hearts and minds in our community.

With great honor, the Charlotte Pride Board of Directors presents this year’s Champions of Pride. ▼

Legacy Award

JOHNNY JOHNSON HE/HIM/HIS

IN MEMORIAM — 1958-2020

John Anderson Johnson, Jr., known to his family and friends as Johnny, is posthumously honored as a recipient of the Legacy Award for his many years of dedicated service and commitment to Charlotte and the LGBTQ community.

Born in Rock Hill, S.C., Johnny made his career in banking in Charlotte. Here in the Queen City, he served his community with passion. Over many years, Johnny served on the board of RAIN, where he also helped host annual Gay Bingo events. Johnny was also a stalwart supporter of Time Out Youth. He also served as an elder at Caldwell Presbyterian Church, which hosted the first and several other annual Charlotte Pride Interfaith Services. Each year, Johnny served as the captain of Caldwell Presbyterian’s annual contingent and float in the Charlotte Pride Parade. Nominations for Johnny poured in from close friends and congregants at Caldwell Presbyterian, where, as his obituary stated, he returned to the church “after a time in the wilderness of disappointment over the failures of organized religion amid the AIDS crisis.” Charlotte Pride is honored to pay tribute to Johnny Johnson.

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Charlotte Pride Magazine

Legacy Award

SHANN FULTON THEY/THEM HE/HIM

Shann Fulton currently serves as chair of Charlotte Black Pride. During their tenure, Charlotte Black Pride has seen extraordinary growth, as well as its visibility in the community. Despite facing a serious health challenge in the past year, Shann continued to serve and offer leadership to Charlotte Black Pride and to Charlotte’s broader LGBTQ community. The community was inspired

by Shann’s bravery, courage, commitment, and sacrifice. Shann graduated from S.C. State University with a B.S. in Computer Science. Shann has two beautiful twin daughters and four amazing grandchildren. Shann’s service and dedication to the community have left a lasting legacy and has been inspiration for us all for many generations to come. Charlotte Pride is honored to present the Champions of Pride Legacy Award to Shann.

Harvey Milk Award

O’NEALE ATKINSON HE/HIM/HIS

O’Neale Atkinson received many nominations from the community in honor of his recent service as Time Out Youth’s interim executive director, as well as his years-long service to other organizations in the city. As interim executive director, O’Neale led Time Out Youth to record growth even amidst the challenge of the the COVID pandemic. O’Neale currently serves as the Deputy Director of Time Out Youth. Prior to his service there, he worked with the LGBT Community Center of Charlotte and served as an editor of QNotes. O’Neale graduated from the University of South Carolina in Columbia. Charlotte Pride is honored to present O’Neale our Champions of Pride Harvey Milk Award for community service and leadership.

Outstanding Ally Award

DARRYL WHITE, SR. HE/HIM/HIS

Darryl White, Sr., currently serves as the Assistant Dean of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement at Queens University of Charlotte. Darryl’s award honors him for his role at Queens, where he has endeavored to support and celebrate the LGBTQ community. Darryl has intentionally worked to create formal Safe Zone programs on campus, advocate on behalf of Queens’ LGBTQ student group, organized National Coming Out Day events, and facilitated LGBTQ-affirming programs and conversations with the Black Student Union and with faith-based groups. Prior to his service at Queens, Darryl served as Vice President of Family Services at Habitat for Humanity of Charlotte for 22 years. Darryl retired from the U.S. Army Reserves in March 2020 after 34 years of distinguished service where he attained the rank of Command Sergeant Major, the highest enlisted rank in the Army. Charlotte Pride is honored to present Darryl our Champions of Pride Outstanding Ally Award.

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Charlotte Pride Magazine

CHARLOTTE PRIDE SCHOLARS F

or the second year during the pandemic, Charlotte Pride is proud to ensure we continue to fund the Charlotte Pride Scholarship Program. For nearly two years now, students across the nation have faced increased challenges — financial and otherwise — as they attempt to navigate their academic careers, jobs, family commitments, and extracurricular activities. Given all of these uncertainties in 2020 and 2021, Charlotte Pride feels it is doubly important to continue to support the young people who are already blazing a path forward for themselves and the LGBTQ community.

Begun in 2017, the Charlotte Pride Scholarship Program is a key component of our mission to strengthen and empower the LGBTQ community. The Scholarship aims to improve economic mobility for LGBTQ and ally students from the Charlotte metro area, easing their burdens in helping to pay for higher education — a key achievement in ensuring future success later in life. Scholarships are awarded on an annual basis with applications opening mid-spring and closing in late June.

For more information or to bookmark our application page for 2022 applications, visit charlottepride.org/scholarship/. ▼

BELLE BAY

CLAY HOUSTON

she/her they/them Marvin, N.C. Biology

they/them he/him Charlotte, N.C. Dance

JESSI DUSCHEL

AUGUST VINCELETTE

she/her/hers Lincolnton, N.C. Art History: Museum Studies

they/them he/him Indian Land, S.C. Modern Languages: ASL

HALEY MADISON ENSLEY

EMILY WANNAMAKER

she/her/hers Lowell, N.C. Elementary Education

she/her/hers Salisbury, N.C. Elementary Education: History

UNC Wilmington

Arizona State University

East Carolina University

DELTA EMBER GREEN

Central Piedmont Community College they/them/theirs Charlotte, N.C. Graphic Design

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New York University

Clemson University

UNC Greensboro

One additional Charlotte Pride Scholar was awarded this year. This scholar has chosen to remain anonymous.

Charlotte Pride respects the coming out journeys and private stories of all our scholars.

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Charlotte Pride Magazine

SCHOLAR ESSAY /

OVERCOMING ADVERSITY

by Clay Houston (they/them he/him) 2021 Charlotte Pride Scholarship Recipient

A Note to the Reader: This essay contains discussion of eating disorders and body image. Please read with care.

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he defining points in our lives are the ones that challenge us. We have the ability to spin straw into gold by taking something that makes us feel defeated and transforming it into something larger and far more valuable.

We can learn a lot from our struggles by choosing to move forward.

The biggest challenge I have faced thus far is being diagnosed with anorexia at age fourteen and getting referred to a disordered eating clinic.

Until that point, my life was largely focused on school and dance. These two things took precedence over everything else. School was obligatory, but dance was a release and helped me develop my voice as an artist. Exploring possibility in movement was fascinating– it was a second language to me.

Given that I was training five days a week and most of my close friends were at the studio, dance was also a second home.

I’m uncertain when I began to lose sight of my passion for dance, but in my early teenage years, it became a burden as opposed to a safe haven. A voice in my head would call me disgusting, misshapen, and unsuccessful in everything I do. I was not in control of my thoughts so I turned to something I could control– eating. I used restriction as a mechanism to relieve myself from the internal conflict I was facing.

Dance, the part of me that I loved so much, was cruelly stolen from me as I was admitted into a clinic. Nothing could have been worse than being pulled from training and placed on exercise restriction. I initially resented the program because I was in denial of how badly the eating disorder had taken over my life. Taking a step back forced me to realize that I had become my worst enemy. I would set impossible standards of perfection and actively look for flaws in my work. Corrections and challenges were seen as failures. I was living in a black and white

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world where everything was limited to good or bad, no room in between. Gray was not in my spectrum of color.

After a wearing process towards recovery, I was reborn into dance. Walking back into the studio felt odd- I wondered how relationships between friends and teachers would change if at all. I wasn’t sure if my stamina would be able to keep me going through class after an extended absence. My fears were instead replaced by being able to push the boundaries even further.

I was surprised by my body’s muscle memory, strength, and abilities. This new familiar was such a breath of fresh air.

Perfectionist standards were no longer at my forefront, which meant I spent less time thinking in black and white and more time finding value in the in-between. After all, personal growth, knowledge, and definition are all products of the process. One of my biggest feats was being able to find comfort in my flaws. I embraced them; they were humanistic and made me whole. Corrections from teachers were seen as constructive opportunities, not setbacks. I used them to my benefit as opposed to seeing them as proof I wasn’t good enough.

I believe that the times we are at our lowest are the most defining and transformative. For me, the process of recovering from anorexia helped me uncover so much more of my highest self. The confidence that unfolded in me initiated some of my most life-changing developments.

I no longer feel the need to conform. I make my own self-image and have no apologies. I do not fear what others think. I am free to be creative, confident, take daring risks, and lead by example. Through my greatest challenge, I have evolved. I know that the toughest time in my life has shaped me and will continue to do so. ▼

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Charlotte Pride Magazine

20 Years of Charlotte Pride

continued from page 7

nearly 2,000 danced the night away at Founders Hall, and hundreds more attended events throughout the weekend.

It was an amazing feat considering just how different event organizing was at the time.

In June 2019, four of the 1994 NC Pride organizers, including Logsdon, gathered for a panel discussion reflecting on that event’s 25th anniversary and what it had meant for the city.

Kimberly Melton, a member of the ’94 steering committee, reminisced during the panel on how difficult it was to get the word out, pointing to steering committee co-chair Sue Henry’s community bulletin board at her Rising Moon Bookstore as a central information hub.

“There was no internet. There was no cell phone,” Melton recalled.

Riding high off the successes of the 1994 event, organizers realized that Charlotte needed an annual celebration. Out Charlotte, an annual LGBTQ arts and cultural festival, was born, masterminded by NC Pride

’94 co-chair Dan Kirsch. Attracting national playwrights, authors, artists, and speakers, Out Charlotte was everything an annual Pride celebration could have hoped to be.

CHARLOTTE PRIDE IS BORN In 2000, after several successful years with Out Charlotte filling the void of an annual Pride celebration in the Queen City, some community members felt the time was right to give Charlotte’s LGBTQ community an extra boost for visibility. The Charlotte of 2000 was not the “little Charlotte” of Don King’s early organizing days. The AIDS Crisis had lent urgency to the need for LGBTQ Charlotteans to organize, to advocate, and to be visible. The late ‘80s and early ‘90s had seen an explosion of growth and new organizations — giving rise to groups still with us today, like PFLAG Charlotte, Time Out Youth, RAIN, and more. Charlotte had even hosted PFLAG’s national conference in 1993.

Despite all that progress and growth, organizers of Charlotte Pride

NC PRIDE ‘94 Marchers at the NC Pride March in 1994 hosted in Charlotte.

Credit: Sue Henry, courtesy of King-Henry-Brockington LGBTQ Archive, UNC Charlotte Special Collections.

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felt their city’s community wasn’t as visible as in other cities, and they saw an annual Pride event as a means to empower others and bring a spotlight onto the lives of LGBTQ people.

“We want everyone to know that it’s ok to be who you are, that we are a diverse crowd and we are proud of who we are,” Jeff Schmehl, a founding director of Charlotte Pride, said in a press release from April 2001. “The LGBTQ Community has been overwhelmingly supportive and we hope to make this an annual event.”

Schmehl and fellow organizers’ hopes for an annual event would become a reality. Starting in 2001, Charlotte Pride hosted festivals in Uptown’s Marshall Park every year through 2005.

The visibility they had hoped for?

It came, too. And it came fast. It didn’t take long for anti-LGBTQ protesters to start taking notice of the new gay festival in Uptown. Flip Benham, the leader of Operation Save America and a street preacher infamously known for his bombastic, in-your-face anti-choice and anti-LGBTQ protesting, was intent on ensuring future Charlotte Pride events were halted.

In November 2004, Benham’s twin sons David and Jason, with others, appeared before Charlotte City Council. The Benham brothers called the event “filth” and “vile.” Jason told Council it had the responsibility to “deny [Charlotte Pride] every permit that they ask for.” Another speaker at the meeting described “acts of lewdness,” “pornography,” and “profanities from the stage,” specifically citing some drag performers’ costumes, dance routines, and interaction with children.

The Benhams wouldn’t get their wish; a permit was issued and the 2005 event moved forward. Undeterred, however, the Benhams simply increased their protest presence, descending with hundreds of others on Marshall Park that year and, according to some organizers, causing significant disruption.

David Stout, then associate editor of Q-Notes, remarked that protesters’ “blaring music and anti-gay rhetoric definitely made me feel very harassed.”

One organizer remarked, “The

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Charlotte Pride Magazine

presence of Operation Save America, I think, has made it unpleasant for many people. At this point, I’m not sure what’s going to happen — but we’re working on what to do.”

The next spring, Charlotte Pride organizers announced they would not host an event in 2006, leading Flip Benham to claim credit for ending the annual celebration.

“They very quickly … started sending out announcements in their newsletters and on their websites that they were responsible for derailing Pride and that it wasn’t going to happen this year and that it was all because of the efforts of Operation Save America,” recalled David Moore, then the editor of Q-Notes, in an oral history interview this year. “That really drove me to the point of we can’t let this happen, because we can’t let Operation Save America say that they’ve derailed Pride. We have to do something about this.”

Q-Notes publisher Jim Yarbrough remembers getting dressed for church on a Sunday morning when he received a phone call from a local news station.

“They wanted my comment on Flip Benham’s suggestion that he has stopped Pride from happening in Charlotte,” Yarbrough told an oral history interviewer. “I said, ‘Absolutely not. There will be a Pride. Flip Benham cannot claim that he has stopped Pride. There will be one. I can’t give you a date right now, but there will be a Pride.’ I hung up the phone and said, ‘Oh no, we have to do a Pride.’”

Yarbrough and Moore went to the Lesbian & Gay Community Center of Charlotte’s executive director Laura Witkowski. The three picked up the pieces and reorganized into a rebranded “Pride Charlotte.”

Taking lessons learned from 2005 and prior years to heart, the event moved to private property, setting up the event at Gateway Village, a partially enclosed promenade and events venue located at Trade and Cedar Sts. in Uptown. There, organizers could control the entry and presence of protesters.

They also formed a new volunteer unit, Partners in Peace, to nonviolently interrupt any acts of intimidation by protesters. And, addressing concerns that prior events had maybe gotten a little too risqué, they set new parameters for stage entertainers’ language and costuming.

CHARLOTTE PRIDE 2001 The first Charlotte Pride logo, top left. The first Charlotte Pride Guide in May 2001, right. A map of the Charlotte Pride Festival, Marshall Park, bottom left. Courtesy of King-Henry-Brockington LGBTQ Archive, UNC Charlotte Special Collections.

BACK TO MAIN STREET From 2006 to 2010, Pride Charlotte steadily grew its attendance and size. By 2010, the annual event had outgrown its space at Gateway Village and moved to partially private property and public street space in and around what is now the AvidXchange Music Factory and grew their attendance to around 10,000 visitors.

Several years removed from the clash with protesters in 2005, some community members had grown tired of seeing their local Pride event tucked away into a private corner of Uptown, and requests were mounting that Pride Charlotte take their event to to the heart of the city.

Dave Webb stepped in to help lead Pride Charlotte events just as others were beginning to question its location. He shared some of those concerns and questions himself.

“Having lived in Atlanta for 30 years and seeing how out the community was and how the parade and everything, just like any big city, was on the main drag, just like New York — they didn’t hide it in some little side street,” Webb recalled in an oral history interview. “So, when I came here and we were talking about locations, I said this needs to be on Tryon.”

Working through some hesitation among fellow organizers, Webb pushed forward. That year, the event was moved to S. Tryon St., taking over just three blocks of space from Stonewall St. to Third St. The event’s location wasn’t the only thing being questioned by community members. Since 1994, no Pride march or parade had occurred in Charlotte, and the community was clamoring for one. Plans were made in 2012 to expand Pride Charlotte’s event to two days, utilizing Saturday and Sunday for the festival and hosting a parade on Sunday. At the same time, city boosters were leading Charlotte into a bid to host the 2012 Democratic National Convention, where President Barack Obama would be nominated for a second term in office. Hopes for a parade in 2012 were put on the back burner when organizers realized the logistical challenges of such a big expansion of the event, planned to occur just one week before the start of convention activities.

The parade would have to wait until 2013.

In the meantime, committee members with Pride Charlotte and board members of the recently renamed LGBT Community Center of Charcontinued on page 20

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Charlotte Pride Magazine

20 Years of Charlotte Pride

continued from page 19

lotte were beginning to realize the event’s growth — from an estimated attendance of 10,000 in 2010 to some 45,000 in 2012 — required a different kind of organizing structure than the one the community center had provided since 2006.

“Pride Charlotte has reached the point where the current Pride committee is ready to be independent,” Scott Coleman, chair of the LGBT Community Center’s board, said in a release at the time. “In order for the annual Pride event to continue its growth momentum, and be taken to the next level, it makes a lot of sense for it to be an independent organization focused on delivering a consistently amazing annual festival.”

Many of the committee members who had heralded leadership positions with Pride Charlotte continued on in their roles as they reinstated the original Charlotte Pride entity founded in 2000. Work began immediately on planning the 2013 event — this time with a parade.

A ‘CITY SIGNATURE’ The first Pride parade in Charlotte since 1994 kicked off at the corner of N. Tryon and Ninth Sts. at exactly 1 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 25, 2013. As it processed down Tryon, marchers came to Charlotte’s Independence Square at Trade and Tryon Sts. For two hours, thousands of marchers and brightly decorated, rainbow-festooned floats crossed through the square formed by the intersection of two ancient Native American trading paths where, as legend has it, Charlotte declared their independence from Great Britain, British General Cornwallis called the city a “hornet’s nest of rebellion,” and where President George Washington, residing at an inn just off the square, had the gall to dismiss little old Charlotte as “a trifling place.”

Like the mainstream city boosters clamoring for Charlotte’s “world-class” status throughout the latter half of the 20th century, Charlotte Pride organizers set out to ensure the parade and its accompanying two-day festival would become an iconic civic event — never again to be dismissed or shuttered away in some far-off corner of the city.

It wouldn’t take long.

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CHARLOTTE PRIDE 2019 The Charlotte Black Pride float passes through Independence Square at Trade and Tryon Sts. during the Charlotte Pride Parade in 2019. Credit: Grant Baldwin/Charlotte Pride.

In 2014, just one year after the introduction of the parade, event attendance more than doubled from its 2012 numbers, marking a milestone 100,000 visitors. The growth in out-oftown visitors led Charlotte’s tourism officials to remark that Charlotte Pride qualified as one of Charlotte’s “city signatures.”

Charlotte Pride was just getting started, though. In 2017, with only four years of parade organizing under their belt, organizers announced that the Charlotte Pride Parade surpassed the 70-year-old Thanksgiving Day Parade as the largest in the city when counting the number of marchers and floats. Come that August, 4,500 marchers, 152 total entrants, and nearly 40 floats passed through Independence Square. When all was said and done, some 150,000 visitors had celebrated Pride in Center City Charlotte that year.

The growth has left an indelible mark on longtime Charlotte Pride organizers like Riley Murray, who first joined as an organizer in 2005.

“It’s emotional now,” Murray said in an oral history interview. “It’s amaz-

ing to think we only had 1,500 people in 2005 and, to look at it now, it’s like, wow.”

MORE THAN A FESTIVAL One can search the historical record and find multiple turning points for the Pride Movement in Charlotte.

For today’s Charlotte Pride, perhaps the most significant turning point came in the face of the near exponential growth it saw in under a decade.

That kind of growth would take intentional organizational capacity building and a refocus on the kinds of work the organization would undertake — not to mention an exploration of what kind of resources would be required to see it all through.

The same year the parade became the city’s largest, Charlotte Pride hired its first sustained full-time staff and began building up its portfolio of community programs and services.

What was once a small, volunteer committee tasked with planning and executing a once-annual weekend event has grown into a year-round service of love and dedication from a diverse mix of board members, a large

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volunteer leadership team, staff, and community partners.

For years, Charlotte Pride board members had been envisioning how the organization could live out its core mission to enrich, empower, strengthen, and make more visible LGBTQ people in Charlotte and the Carolinas.

The visibility part had proven itself with each year’s festival and parade.

Organizers began tinkering with community programs like Reel Out Charlotte, the Queen City’s Annual LGBTQ Film Festival, as well as new events and community partnerships to serve women, the city’s growing Latinx and immigrant community, the transgender community, LGBTQ people and communities of faith, and more.

Charlotte Pride also worked to mend old self-inflicted wounds. In 2005, the city would see the birth of Charlotte Black Pride after Black LGBTQ community members and their desire for a more inclusive local Pride event went ignored by Charlotte Pride leaders.

Jermaine Nakia Lee, a founder of Charlotte Black Pride, recalled getting the runaround from past Charlotte Pride leaders when he and other Black community leaders held meetings and conversations with them to offer ideas for reaching out to Black and Latinx community members.

“And then, Charlotte Pride would happen, and there would be no difference in the programming and no diversity in the programming,” Lee said in an oral history interview.

“After a while, after just giving the benefit of the doubt, we realized that this isn’t going to happen. And that actually motivated us to really get firm in our plans to establish Charlotte Black Pride.”

Monica Simpson, also a co-founder of Charlotte Black Pride, noted the lack of diversity in the community’s and Charlotte Pride’s leadership at the time.

“Back in the day, as things were getting started, it was really difficult for folks like me to see themselves reflected in leadership,” she said in an oral history interview. “So, we felt like we needed to do something that really centered us and centered our communities and our needs, and that’s why we created [Charlotte Black Pride].”

Today, the relationship between Charlotte Black Pride and Charlotte Pride is different, more positive, and more collaborative — through years of

intentional work, conversation, and partnership. The two organizations often describe themselves as siblings today — with Charlotte Black Pride offering a permanent space to celebrate Black LGBTQ people.

“What we were doing with [founding] Charlotte Black Pride … we understood that wasn’t a temporary something,” Lee recalls of the decision to start the group and the intention to keep it going. “What’s wrong with having a Black gay cultural celebration? There’s nothing wrong with that.”

KICKING OFF 20 YEARS Scenes from the March 2020 kick-off event, unveiling Charlotte Pride’s new logo and ushering in Charlotte Pride’s 20th annual events — the last in-person event hosted

by Charlotte Pride prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Credit: Second Life Photography/Charlotte Pride.

A COVID ANNIVERSARY Charlotte Pride’s last major in-person events were held in 2019, when the festival and parade reached another milestone attendance record with 200,000 visitors. In 2020, Charlotte Pride was due to celebrate its 20th annual events — all turned virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As Charlotte Pride celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, it will do so with a hybrid of virtual and smaller-scale in-person gatherings.

The abrupt pandemic-caused transitions in 2020 and their continued impact this year have given Charlotte Pride the opportunity to show its programmatic chops through a variety of community services and programs.

The most significant has been the organization’s commitment to supporting those most in need as a result of the pandemic and resulting economic downturn. In 2019, Charlotte Pride unveiled its COVID-19 Community Relief Program. In partnership with the United Way of Central Carolinas and Foundation for the Carolinas, with additional support from Charlotte Black Pride and private donors, Charlotte Pride awarded more than $16,000 in direct emergency assistance grants to more than 160 community members. That program has been reimagined in 2021, with hopes of establishing a permanent Charlotte Pride Community Relief Program. In Fall 2021, another round of $15,000, will be granted directly to individuals in need.

That spirit of solidarity has extended to other acts of service. A Weekend of Service saw more than a dozen community organizations together with 300 individual volunteers partnering with Charlotte Pride to give back to the community in various volunteer service projects in August continued on page 69

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Charlotte Pride Magazine

CHARLOTTE PRIDE WEEKEND OF SERVICE /

COMMUNITY GIVES BACK IN 2021 ― Two dozen organizations and more than 300 individual volunteers participated in the inaugural Charlotte Pride Weekend of Service in August

by Matt Comer (he/him/his)

M

ore than a dozen volunteer service projects and events with more than 300 participating community members dotted the city’s landscape on the weekend that would have been Charlotte Pride’s 20th anniversary event on Aug. 21-22. Altogether, the events marked the first Charlotte Pride Weekend of Service, an opportunity for LGBTQ community members to stand in support and solidarity with each other as the city continues to face the consequences of the continued pandemic and economic downturn.

At Charlotte Pride, we believe Pride is more than a once-annual event, party, street festival, or parade. There’s certainly nothing wrong with a party! “All work and no play…” as the old saying goes. But Pride also means service, support, care, kindness, and the proactive building of a collective community in which all are empowered to live our full lives and full selves.

That’s why we organized this year’s first-ever Weekend of Service. It felt right to plan a collective give-back event on the weekend we would have hosted the annual festival and parade. Pandemic restrictions and all the uncertainty that comes with them may have prevented us from hosting our community’s largest once-annual way to celebrate and empower each other, but it wasn’t going to stop us and our mission to support our broader community!

We are so thrilled that community members and organizations stepped up to the plate. A dozen groups signed up to host their own service projects and events! Together with Charlotte Pride’s two projects, more than 300 people par-

22

ticipated in acts of service and kindness, including school and clothing supply drives, letter writing to elders, a Habitat home project, a health and wellness event, school playground and classroom clean-up, community farm support, a local road clean-up, and more!

The pandemic has taught us many lessons. Chief among them is just how important it is to care for each other and our collective community. Charlotte Pride is incredibly grateful for the community members and organizations who came together in solidarity during the Charlotte Pride Weekend of Service.

You’ve all made a direct impact and difference in our local community. Thank you! We can’t wait to make the Charlotte Pride Weekend of Service an annual community tradition!

Many thanks go out to the following community organizations who participated in the Charlotte Pride Weekend of Service: Amity Medical Group, Avant Wellness, Charlotte Area Drag Queen Story Hour, Gender Education Network, Indivisible NC District 9, Moms Demand Action Charlotte, One Voice Chorus, PNC Bank, Queer Society Charlotte, Regions Bank, Trane Technologies, Transcend Charlotte, and the UNC Charlotte Office of Identity, Equity, and Engagement. ▼ — Charlotte Pride extends a special note of thanks to our partners who assisted with our hosted service projects. Thank you to the Carolina Farm Trust, Urban Farm at Aldersgate, and Keep Mecklenburg Beautiful.

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SERVICE & SOLIDARITY Volunteers pose for a group photo after offering support at the Urban Farm at Aldersgate on Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021.

REGIONS BANK Volunteers undertook playground clean-up and other tasks at Veritas Community School

PNC BANK Volunteers helped staff Charlotte Pride’s Statesville Rd. clean-up in partnership with Keep Mecklenburg Beautiful.

October 2021 / Volume 3

SEE MORE PHOTOS! See photos from various other service projects across the city online at charlottepride.org/14586

TRANSCEND CHARLOTTE Transcend hosted a Sacred Summer Market with resources and self-care items.

AMITY MEDICAL GROUP The medical group wrote letters of love and appreciation to local healthcare workers.

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Charlotte Pride Magazine

2021 YEAR IN REVIEW /

THE QUEER IN REVIEW Still here. Still queer. Still winning.

by Matthew Ablon (he/him/his)

24

2

020 turned our expectations of celebrating and honoring LGBTQ icons on its head with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic early on. Much to our disdain, the spread of the delta variant is making 2021 look more like 2020 redux.

And yet, the LGBTQ community has continued to thrive.

Amidst the continued pandemic, queer icons have used their platforms to share their voices in their own unique ways, providing a person even more people can relate to.

Let’s hit rewind on what’s happened so far this side of the rainbow.

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Charlotte Pride Magazine

PICTURED LEFT The cast of the series “It’s a Sin,” streaming on HBO Max. PICTURED RIGHT Billy Porter as Pray Tell in FX Network’s “POSE.” Credit: FX Networks.

SHE’S AN ALL-STAR (SPOILERS AHEAD, HENNY) “RuPaul’s Drag Race” has hit several milestones in its 13-season history, which includes international spin-offs and the All-Stars seasons. In the sixth season of All-Stars, we saw a strong cast that featured all sorts of power hitters return from previous seasons to fight heel and nail to claim the crown, scepter, and $100K cash prize. This season, our final four included Ginger Minj, Kylie Sonique Love, Ra’Jah O’Hara, and Eureka!, all of whom made strong cases for a win. For the first time in Drag Race her-story, we have a trans winner: Kylie! Veteran fans will recall Kylie went home early in Season 2 of RPDR, and came out publicly as a trans woman during that season’s reunion episode.

11 year later, she got her Ru-demption, complete with rhinestones and cash!

WINNER WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER For the fourth season in a row, RuPaul and the crews at VH1 and World of Wonder hauled home their own hardware at the Emmys. This year, the folks who make the magic happen were nominated in nine categories and snatched five of them: ● Outstanding Picture Editing For A Structured Reality Or Competition Program ● Outstanding Host For A Reality Or Competition Program ● Outstanding Competition Program ● Outstanding Casting For A Competition Program ● Outstanding Directing For A Reality Program

Shantay, you stay? More like shantay, you SLAY! COMING OUT OF HER COFFIN And Elvira’s doing just fine! In fact, the Mistress of the Dark, already a spooky gay icon herself, confirmed to the world she’s sexually fluid and has been in a relationship with a woman for almost two decades. Cassandra

Peterson, the actress who embodies the Queen of Halloween, shared this brand new information in her memoir, “Yours Cruelly, Elvira: Memories of the Mistress of the Dark.” Peterson reveals after divorcing her ex-husband, she met Teresa Wierson while at a gym, sparking a friendship that became much more than that as time went on. Peterson was afraid for so long of revealing this because she thought it would hurt Elvira’s brand, but now she’s no longer afraid! Hats — I mean, BATS off to you, dear!

BILLY PORTER SHARES HIS TRUTH We’ve more recently known and loved Billy Porter as Pray Tell on FX series “Pose,” which dug into New York City’s thriving ball culture that flourished as a home for Black and Latinx LGBTQ folks as the AIDS epidemic raged. In May, the gay icon lifted the curtain in a more personal part of his life as a gay man living with HIV. In that same interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Porter said we was diagnosed in 2007, the same year he was diagnosed with type-2 diabetes and filed for bankruptcy. He also revealed he was able to use his character on the show as a proxy form of sharing his story as he still feared marginalization over the last 14 years.

Today, he’s empowered to share his truth in the hope of destigmatizing those who live with HIV! MODERNA’S HIV VACCINE Using the same mRNA technology used to create the COVID-19 vaccine, Moderna is teaming up with Scripps

Research, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, and other partners to work on a vaccine for HIV! Phase I trials on 56 people aged 18-50 living without HIV started on Sept. 19, and the study will last through May 2023. Two versions of this vaccine are being tested on the people, who are broken into four groups. The general idea with the mRNA HIV vaccine is that it works similar to the two-shot COVID-19 vaccine: introduce instructions to the body to make an immune response and trigger the creation of antibodies. There’s cautious optimism about the vaccine since HIV has been trickier to tackle, and experts say this may not work the first go-round. Still, there’s hope that Moderna’s platform will make the path to a functioning vaccine much quicker!

NOW STREAMING Two new pieces of LGBTQ visual media have hit the Internet’s streaming services, and they’re getting plenty of attention. HBO Max’s miniseries “It’s a Sin” takes us to London, following a group of friends navigating the AIDS crisis. Meanwhile, the Netflix documentary film “Pray Away” lifts the curtain even more on conversion therapy practices and includes indepth, often damning interviews with the people who went through conversion therapy before it was roundly denounced more recently.

PROGRESS HERE, PROGRESS THERE 2021 has seen a tremendous amount of political and cultural continued on page 26

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Charlotte Pride Magazine continued from page 25

progress for LGBTQ people. No doubt, there’s still much more work to do.

The Equality Act, which would extend all federal civil rights legislation to LGBTQ people, is still making its way through Congress. But, in other areas, queer and transgender people have seen expanded rights, recognition, participation, and awareness.

This year, for the first time, the number of openly LGBTQ elected officials skyrocketed to nearly 1,000. That’s nearly double the number from just four years ago, according to The New York Times. Every state in the Union, with the exception of Mississippi, has at least one LGBTQ elected official.

They run the gamut from U.S. senators, House members and governors to state lawmakers, mayors, and more.

In other areas, the federal government is moving to protect LGBTQ people in education and travel. This summer, the Education Department said Title IX protections extend to LGBTQ students. Transgender travelers can now apply for more gender-affirming passports. The State Department now allows applicants to self-select their sex marker and no longer requires medical certification. The department says it is also working toward adding

some kind of gender marker for those who are nonbinary, intersex, or gender non-conforming.

WORLDPRIDE TAKES HOLDIN COPENHAGEN The last WorldPride hosted pre-pandemic was held in New York City, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. The worldwide celebrations attracted millions of visitors, just one year before the world shutdown. Doubts were high and uncertainty filled the air as planners in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Malmö, Sweden, planned to host this year’s WorldPride this summer.

Events were scaled back and, as the Scandinavian countries began to recover from the pandemic, good news came! The events were a go. A smaller parade, other festivities, and an international human rights conference was held, along with an interparliamentary assembly with legislators from across the globe.

The Copenhagen WorldPride event will be followed by Sydney, Austra-

lia, in 2023, the first time a WorldPride event has been licensed in the southern hemisphere. It is set to take place February-March 2023. Stateside, LA Pride and Capital Pride in Washington, D.C., are bidding to host WorldPride 2025; Kaohsiung Pride in Taiwan is also bidding for 2025.

Orlando is hoping to host WorldPride in 2026, marking the ten year anniversary of the Pulse tragedy. ▼

Charlotte Pride Magazine

ICONS /

10 QUEER FIGURES PAVING THE WAY FOR THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY

JUST GETTING STARTED “Pose” actress Mj Rodriguez is just getting started. After earning an Emmy nomination for her role in the hit FX series, she’s readying her singing career as Michaela Jaé.

Credit: FX Networks

by Anders Hare (he/him/his)

B

eing queer means so much more than it did years ago. Not only symbolic of freedom, queerness is steadily falling in line with the mainstream. That’s why it’s important more than ever for those with far-reaching voices to advocate for the marginalized.

The kind of superstar, mainstream visibility for queer and transgender icons we’ve seen over the past few years would have been just a dream more than a decade ago. Some of our favorite figures — artists, athletes and more — have made strides to make their queerness shine. In the process, they’ve become household names. And, they’ve become heroes and inspiring leaders for a increasingly diverse, growing LGBTQ community, including young people. We celebrate their unique efforts to pave the way.

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JOSHUA BASSETT Toxic labels have riddled the LGBTQ+ community for years, but Joshua Bassett is refusing them as the world watches in awe. In 2021, the actor informally came out in an Instagram post after fortuitously making comments about Harry Styles being “hot’ in an interview, getting the internet all hot and bothered.

The announcement not only doused rumors of romance gone wrong with his High School Musical: The Musical: The Series co-star, but they unveiled a more indefinable side of the actor; one that refused to be put into a box because of his sexuality. Bassett is doing away with labels, encouraging others in the queer community to do the same.

KEHLANI Kehlani has always attracted multiple gazes when it comes to her looks, lyrics and performances, but the last few years have proven the singer-songwriter to be a frontrunner in nonconformity; in 2019, Kehlani announced they would begin using she/ they pronouns. The Oakland artist crafted her 2020 sophomore album It Was Good Until It Wasn’t, an album laced in sexual escapades involving men and women, around the same as the birth of her daughter Adeya.

While many are known for being involved with more than one gender, Kehlani appears to be comfortable in their role, stunning audiences with her uncut, yet subtle presence on and off stage. Kehlani is an artist who proves it’s better to be unapologetic about who they love, shifting perspectives in more ways than one.

DEMI LOVATO An icon of resilience all their own, Demi Lovato shed away a part of their life publicly coming out as non-binary in 2021. However, with that transformation, Lovato took back all of the negative comments about their body, sexuality, and public image that had been picked at for years. In turn, they continue to inspire those who struggle with addiction, abuse, and other traumas that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Lovato is a prime example of how a cry for help can be transformed into a message of hope.

VICTORIA MONÉT Perhaps the definition of unapologetic, Victoria Monét wears her

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JOSHUA BASSETT Credit: Pierre Crosby/Warner Records KEHLANI Photo Top Left Credit: Marcus Cooper/Atlantic Records DEMI LOVATO Credit: Hollywood Records VICTORIA MONÉT Credit: Facebook / @VictoriaMonet

sexuality on her sleeve. For years, the songwriter –– who happens to be bisexual –– helped pen some of our favorites hits for the likes of Ariana Grande and Chloe x Halle, but her 2020 breakthrough Jaguar set the stage for an artist the world wasn’t ready for. The EP is laced with sultry, yet assertive bops that outlined Monét as a sexually fluid chanteuse.

Released to critical acclaim, the project lifted Monét as an instant sex symbol. Jaguar not only debuted the goddess that is Victoria Monét, but it set the bar higher on what Black queer women can achieve.

LIL NAS X Over the past three years, the world has watched Lil Nas X bloom into a self-assured sexual being that doesn’t take anyone’s shit. The “Industry Baby” rapper may be breaking records on the Top 40 chart, but many often forget about the constant battle he’s fought in the hip-hop community. Backlash, insults and death threats led the rapper to hire security

to protect himself in 2021, but still, he’s continued to disregard critics and pave a lane all his own with the release of his debut album Montero.

Lil Nas X, along with queer rap icons such as iLoveMakonnen and Tyler, The Creator, is rewriting the book of hip-hop and letting the community know unless they accept the trajectory of the genre, they’ll be left behind. continued on page 32

LIL NAS X Credit: Charlotte Rutherford/Sony

ELLIOT PAGE Credit: Instagram / @ElliotPage

29

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Charlotte Pride Magazine

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‘TO SEE IS TO DREAM’ This hand-drawn art piece was submitted

by Autumn Alston (she/her/hers). The piece features Lil Nas X and Kehlani. Below them, two children look up toward them. continued from page 29

ELLIOT PAGE Since announcing that he is transgender in 2020, Elliot Page has become a beacon of possibility for the LGBTQ community. Less than a year after publicizing his journey, the Oscar-nominated actor is an advocate for trans kids. “I feel emerging joy and excitement one moment, and then in the next, profound sadness reading about people wanting to take gender-affirming health care away from children,” he said in an interview with Oprah back in April. “I feel so grateful to be at this place in my life, and I want to use the strength I have to help in all the ways that I can.” Page continues to stand for transgender rights and using his platform is change their narrative, exemplifying all transgender individuals can accomplish.

MEGAN RAPINOE Soccer phenom Megan Rapinoe stunned the world this summer as she helped bring home accolades at the Tokyo Olympics. Identifying as a les-

bian, Rapinoe was outward about her sexuality during the games, becoming a standout among American athletes. Rapinoe and her partner Sue Bird’s vocal support for abortion rights during threats against Roe. v. Wade marked her both as an advocate for LGBTQ and women’s rights. As a star athlete and feminist, Rapinoe’s actions prove that the work done on the field is never done.

QUINN No talk of the world of soccer in 2021 would be complete without highlighting Quinn, the Canadian soccer star who became the first openly transgender athlete ever to win an Olympic gold medal. The victory came at Tokyo this year, as Quinn’s Canadian women’s soccer team beat out Sweden 3-2. Quinn, who uses a single name and they/them pronouns, came out earlier in 2021.

Quinn previously played collegiate soccer at Duke University right here in the Old North State, before going pro with the Washington Spirit, Paris FC, and Seattle Reign FC.

QUINN Credit: Jamie Smed JOJO SIWA Credit: JoJo Siwa MEGAN RAPINOE Credit: Lorie Shaull

MJ RODRIGUEZ Pose may have concluded in 2021, but its star Mj Rodriguez is just getting started. Her role as Blanca Rodriguez-Evangelista earned Rodriguez an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, becoming the first transgender woman to receive a nomination in a major Emmy category.

But that’s not the end of the road for Rodriguez, who’s readying her singing skills for a label debut as Michaela Jaé. With accolades on the silver screen under her belt and a diva-sized musical career in the works, we’re excited to see what Rodriguez will do next.

JOJO SIWA JoJo Siwa has come a long way since her days on Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition. The reality star made a name for herself on YouTube before truly coming into a new form in January 2021. Siwa came out as pansexual, announcing she was in a relationship with her best friend Kylie Prew. Siwa quickly become a prominent voice for the LGBTQ+ community with the announcement, but she didn’t stop there. Siwa made history on “Dancing with the Stars” with a same-sex duet during the 2021 season. As her arc continues to broaden with new experiences, the young star is sure to turn heads for years to come. ▼ 32

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SAY HELLO TO /

THE PEOPLE OF CHARLOTTE PRIDE

C

harlotte Pride, like any other community nonprofit, is only ever as strong as the beautiful hearts, minds, spirits, and dedication of the selfless volunteers who step up to offer their leadership and talents in service to a greater cause. In the fall of 2020, as the world looked toward the potential “return to normal” from pandemic lockdowns, Charlotte Pride onboarded one of our largest teams of volunteer leaders and coordinators ever.

Despite our best made plans, the pandemic required us to take a different path. All of the awesome large-scale, in-person events we’d hoped to present could not happen again this year. Despite this, our team coordinators have continued to serve, applying their creativity and talents in awesome and unexpected ways. We thank our awesome volunteers and their leadership. ▼

Kyle Critcher

Glory Elizabeth

HE/HIM/HIS

SHE/HER/HERS

Hometown: Asheville, North Carolina

Hometown: Kingsport, Tennessee

FUN FACTS:

FUN FACTS:

• I am kind of obsessed with Dungeons and Dragons • I am really into cars • I own over 1100 films (I stopped counting)

• My favorite place I have traveled is South Korea • I have two master’s degrees • I have published quite a bit of writing and hope to publish more!

Dustin Crites

Jenny Gunn

HE/HIM/HIS

SHE/HER/HERS; THEY/THEM/THEIRS

Hometown: Lafayette, Indiana

Hometown: San Antonio, Texas

FUN FACTS:

FUN FACTS:

• I have two cats, Vader and Colby Jack • I’ve always dreamed of being a millionaire like my uncle...he’s dreaming too • I always learn from the mistakes of others who take my advice

• I am a phenomenal cook and a vegan • I love cosplay especially edgy fashion like rubber/latex, faux leather, and pvc.

• I love games, especially farm games and D&D

Tiffany Crooks

SHE/HER/HERS

SHE/HER/HERS

Hometown: Roanoke Rapids, N.C.

Hometown: Huntsville, Alabama

FUN FACTS:

FUN FACTS

•I love expressing myself creatively through music, art, and poetry •I love telling stories about my life • I enjoy reading books

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Michelle Hartz

• I’m a PC and console video gamer • I’ve traveled to more countries than U.S. states • I also volunteer for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Delta Phi Epsilon Sorority

October 2021 / Volume 3

Charlotte Pride Magazine

Troy McElrath

Alissa Smith

HE/HIM/HIS

SHE/HER/HERS

Hometown: Lexington, N.C.

Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina

FUN FACTS:

FUN FACTS:

• I have never gotten a ticket • I find most things funny even when they aren’t supposed to be • Deleted all social media four years ago

• I love travel • The red hair is natural :) • I got my scuba diving license a few years ago and can’t wait to dive again once traveling is back to normal.

Sarah Moore

Victor Valdez

SHE/HER/HERS

HE/HIM/HIS

Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina

Hometown: Cornelius, North Carolina

FUN FACTS:

FUN FACTS: • My family is from Mexico, so my first language is Spanish.

• On Wednesdays, I wear pink.

• I love going on long-distance drives alone! I’ve made the drive from South Texas to North Carolina, and back, several times, and I want to do it again!

• I own four pet snakes and several pet lizards • I have been volunteering at the Carolina Raptor Center since I was 12.

• I love journaling and collecting different journals and notebooks

Calli Robles SHE/HER/HERS

John Walton

Hometown: Evanston, Illinois

HE/HIM/HIS

FUN FACTS:

Hometown: Charleston, S.C.

• I am bilingual and biliterate in English and Spanish • I can read text that is upside down and backwards • I am very organized (my Google Drive folders have subfolders)

Ebony Shuford THEY/THEM/THEIRS Hometown: Cincinnati, Ohio FUN FACTS:

• The Big Three of my zodiac sign is all Virgo • I own over 50 pairs of shoes • I collect random Toy Story things

October 2021 / Volume 3

FUN FACTS:

• I love horses • I’m pretty crafty and love building things

Patrice Wilson SHE/HER; THEY/THEM; HE/HIM Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina FUN FACTS:

•I lived in Spain for six months •I traveled to France, The Netherlands, and the U.K. I loved them all, love to travel, and definitely want to revisit

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Charlotte Pride Magazine

COMMUNITY HEROES /

BLACK LGBTQ LEADERS SHOW THE WAY IN THE QUEEN CITY

L

eaders have the power to shape and mold the priorities of entire communities, cities, states, and nations. And leaders occupy an honored space, using their talents, passions, and dedication to serve as an inspiration, example, and mentor to others. In recent years we have all found plenty of reasons to look for those doing the hard work of pushing forward amid serious challenges. This year, we recognize some of the Black LGBTQ leaders helping make the future brighter in Charlotte.

Moriah Ferguson

she/her/hers Founder, Erase Trans Hate Carolinas WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING ON THIS YEAR? I founded the nonprofit Erase Trans Hate Carolinas to help the trans girls in ways that many organizations didn’t actually know how to do. After being a part of other organizations as a peer helper I realize that trans girls need a true trans voice to speak for us.

HOW HAVE YOU BEEN HANDLING THE CHALLENGES OF THIS PAST YEAR? As we entered the pandemic and different funding had begun to dissolve, the need for support was still around.

So I went into action and hosted different fundraisers and made sure my girls had a safe space and a hot meal if needed.

WHAT LATELY IS GIVING YOU HOPE? This year I worked closely with other organizations as we watched the Hate Crimes Prevention Act get introduced in the state House and Senate. A win like that is what keeps my hope alive that one day we will be able to not only say we are equally represented but will feel secure in those words!

WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO SEE MORE OF FOR THE COMMUNITY IN THE FUTURE? Going on in the future I hope to decrease and maybe end the homeless trend in the trans community. Also break down the stereotypes that are placed on trans women.

by Jeff Taylor (he/him/his)

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October 2021 / Volume 3

Charlotte Pride Magazine

just as important as anyone else in this city. Human rights are just that, HUMAN, and to see our city council make an effort to see us, hear us, create space for us, and protect us under the law says that there is indeed so much hope.

Quin Kinard

she/her/hers Founder, Quin Knows Inc. WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING ON THIS YEAR? This year my focus has been primarily on connecting more deeply within our community to ensure that voices that have been unheard, silenced, or shadowed by the fray of the pandemic are being heard. I have placed a lot of my energy into speaking to the rights of Black and LGBTQ+ communities while also chatting with other community leaders to see how I can help.

I’ve basically been a working rainbow bee! I also am working to create more spaces where our youth are seen, validated, and accepted, not only by our community but also by their parents.

HOW HAVE YOU BEEN HANDLING THE CHALLENGES OF THIS PAST YEAR? I have been handling the challenges of this past year by asking for help when I need it, meditating, praying, reading books, connecting with nature, and remembering to take time to recharge so that I’m not on overload and end up burning out. I’ve allowed myself to cry when I needed to and I hugged as many humans as possible when I could. Having a balance in my social and spiritual life, while recognizing when I need a mental health break and actually taking it, has been of tremendous help.

WHAT IN YOUR LIFE PRESENTLY, OR UPCOMING, HAS YOU FEELING THE MOST EXCITED AND OPTIMISTIC? One thing in my life presently which has me feeling the most excited and optimistic, besides my marriage, is the passing of the nondiscrimination ordinance for Charlotte. I am a natural Black woman who is also LGBTQ+ and it means so much to me to know that I’m protected and my rights are

WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE COMMUNITY CURRENTLY THAT IS GIVING YOU THE MOST CAUSE FOR PRIDE AND A SENSE OF HOPE? I love seeing so many of my hometown’s organizations, such as Charlotte Pride, Charlotte Black Pride, Mecklenburg LGBTQ Dems, Equality NC, Transcend Charlotte, PFLAG Charlotte, just to name a few, coming together as ONE VOICE, ONE SOUND, ONE HEART to see to it that all are treated equally and fairly. It is a beautifully heartwarming experience to see folx of all backgrounds, interests, and more come together for one reason, HUMANITY. WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO SEE MORE OF FOR THE COMMUNITY IN THE FUTURE? I hope to see more consistency in all organizations acting on the need to be a close-knit and supportive community for one another. Yes we are all different, yes our interests are different, but there is no competition to be had. We have one thing in common, humanity, and our love for our community. I would overall love to see us continue to be better humans to ourselves and to each other. As simply as I can put it, I just want to see more unity in community and more love.

Rell Lowery

he/him/his Transgender Relations and Programming, Charlotte Black Pride WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING ON THIS YEAR? I’ve been working on bringing more

visibility to our trans community here in Charlotte. With us still being in the middle of a pandemic, a lack of protection for our community, and senseless murders still increasing yearly, I wanted to bring our stories out of the shadows. Our lives matter just as much as anyone else, and I felt that it was time Charlotte recognized us for who we are and what values we bring to this city. I decided to come out of living stealth at the beginning of 2020 and then I accepted the position of Trans Community Liaison for Charlotte Black Pride.

HOW HAVE YOU BEEN HANDLING THE CHALLENGES OF THIS PAST YEAR? Personally, I’ve just tried to stay as proactive as possible. With so much negativity in the media and in the world when it comes to our community, I’ve kept my focus on what changes we need and how to get there. While we were all adapting to the virtual world of 2020, I had the opportunity to meet some amazing people and network. There are so many great organizations in Charlotte that I got a chance to work with last year, and this year. I’m honored to have built lasting relationships with these individuals and I look forward to so much more in the future.

WHAT IN YOUR LIFE PRESENTLY, OR UPCOMING, HAS YOU FEELING THE MOST EXCITED AND OPTIMISTIC? I’m most excited about a new business venture I’m embarking on next year. It has been in the brainstorming stage for a month or two and I’m almost ready to launch it. This business combines a task that I have been doing voluntarily for years within the community and now it’s time to put the business plan in motion to bring in money. Not only am I looking forward to the financial piece, but I’m also looking forward to being able to open the door for others in the community.

WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE COMMUNITY CURRENTLY THAT IS GIVING YOU THE MOST CAUSE FOR PRIDE AND A SENSE OF HOPE? After fighting for what seemed like an eternity, Charlotte passed LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination protections!

I’d have to say that is one of the things that has happened in my community continued on page 40

October 2021 / Volume 3

39

Charlotte Pride Magazine continued from page 39

that has brought me the most pride and sense of hope. The journey was by no means a walk in the park, and there were many tribulations that we all endured mentally, emotionally and some even physically. One thing I can say is that in my 39 years of being a Charlotte native, that was one of the most proud moments. As a community leader, I’m beyond proud of the coalition we built and the change that we helped bring to Charlotte! That vote made our city a safer place to live for everyone and I’ll forever be proud to have been a part of it.

WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO SEE MORE OF FOR THE COMMUNITY IN THE FUTURE? I hope to continue to see more safe visibility opportunities for my trans siblings. I also hope to see more inclusion when it comes to the LGBTQ+ community. We have to do a better job of standing up for one another, regardless of what labels we carry.

Charlotte has made some amazing changes over the last year, but we all know there is still so much work to be done. By coming together just like we did for the ordinance, I truly believe there’s nothing our community can’t do. We Can and We Will!

Candy Chaney Neverson she/her/hers Secretary, Charlotte Black Pride

WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING ON THIS YEAR? I serve on the board for Charlotte Black Pride and I helped plan our first in-person week of Pride events since everything shut down last year due to COVID-19. This was a big task for our board but we were very pleased with the outcome! We are currently planning our next Pride season and we’re excited to bring needed programming

40

and events to our community.

HOW HAVE YOU BEEN HANDLING THE CHALLENGES OF THIS PAST YEAR? My personal way to cope through the ebbs and flows of this past year has been through self-reflection, meditation and grounding. I literally just take time to take off my shoes and walk through the grass and glean from the good ol’ energy from Mother Earth and my ancestors. I am intentional in selfishly taking time to make sure I am ok for myself first so that I can then be ok for others.

WHAT IN YOUR LIFE PRESENTLY, OR UPCOMING, HAS YOU FEELING THE MOST EXCITED AND OPTIMISTIC? Listen, I am plain ol’ excited about just living and being able to love and be loved. My family is healthy.

We are thriving.

Life is good and I’m excited to live it!

WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE COMMUNITY CURRENTLY THAT IS GIVING YOU THE MOST CAUSE FOR PRIDE AND A SENSE OF HOPE? We have been experiencing tragedies in our Black & Brown communities for centuries. But recent tragedies like George Floyd’s murder, the numerous murders of trans women of color and Breonna Taylor (to name a few), I believe has caused the burning desire for change to grow even bigger. I am seeing a new sense of dedication to demanding equal treatment in our community. This gives me hope.

WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO SEE MORE OF FOR THE COMMUNITY IN THE FUTURE? I want to see folks learn how to embrace and appreciate the individual differences that each of us have to give. Whether that is culture, language, beliefs or otherwise, you be beautiful you and I’ll be beautiful me, and together we’ll sprinkle love and acceptance and pride until they overpower all the ugly stuff. And as flowery as that might sound, it really is just that simple.

James Rice III

he/him/his Volunteer and Special Events Coordinator, Time Out Youth WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING ON THIS YEAR? A lot! Professionally we have just concluded a search for a new Executive Director as well as figuring out how to continue to support young people in the middle of the pandemic. Personally, I’ve been working to expand my hosting business @TheRealMCCLT, hosting various events including Charlotte Black Pride this past summer.

HOW HAVE YOU BEEN HANDLING THE CHALLENGES OF THIS PAST YEAR? As well as a Black Gay man can in this social environment.

Thank God for a strong network of support through family, friends and my church, and of course my therapist!

WHAT IN YOUR LIFE PRESENTLY, OR UPCOMING, HAS YOU FEELING THE MOST EXCITED AND OPTIMISTIC? Professionally, I am most excited about the changes that are going to come for Time Out Youth Center under our new leader. She is extremely qualified and is coming with a fresh vision for the agency. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next year.

Personally, I have been putting immigration with my fiancée on hold due to restrictions around COVID, however it looks like that will finally change in the next year and it’s all I can think about; counting down the days!

WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE COMMUNITY CURRENTLY THAT IS GIVING YOU THE MOST CAUSE FOR PRIDE AND A SENSE OF HOPE? There appears to be a recognition that the “way things always have been” is no longer good enough in 2021. Folks are starting to have hard conversations around race, seats of power and community leadership. There is still a long way to go to break the “good ole boys “ network that is still very much the core of this community but

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Charlotte Pride Magazine

with the increased representation of women and POC leaders rising in that last year, I have hope and thus it gives me pride.

WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO SEE MORE OF FOR THE COMMUNITY IN THE FUTURE? Willingness to embrace more change.

We as queer people literally have built a life outside of society norms so it baffles me when we allow those same norms to exist when we talk about who holds power and how organizations act, working with each other, or even over funding. There is also a great need to get young people’s voices involved in our community. If the same 10 people hold the same 10 leadership positions for the next 10 years, when will we give these youth a chance? This is what drives them to neighboring cities like Atlanta.

Dianna Ward she/her/hers Business owner

WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING ON THIS YEAR? Relaunching Charlotte Bcycle (now Charlotte Joyrides), helping Charlotte NC Tours recover from the pandemic, launching Intown Charlotte e-Delivery Service, and finishing my first development project at 1800 Rozzelles Ferry.

HOW HAVE YOU BEEN HANDLING THE CHALLENGES OF THIS PAST YEAR? Like a champ. I reveled in my downtime because I knew things were going to get better. I practiced my golf swing. Upped my swim game and started swimming masters. Laid sod in my front yard. I created a beautiful flower garden. My favorite was organizing socially distanced outdoor dinners for my neighborhood.

WHAT IN YOUR LIFE PRESENTLY, OR UPCOMING, HAS YOU FEELING THE MOST EXCITED AND OPTIMISTIC? I have a couple of big projects in the works.

October 2021 / Volume 3

WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE COMMUNITY CURRENTLY THAT IS GIVING YOU THE MOST CAUSE FOR PRIDE AND A SENSE OF HOPE? I am seeing people in the LGBTQ community doing great things. The White Party was amazing and the most diverse crowd yet.

National organizations are not running our LGBTQ community from DC. That was so toxic. Equality NC is strong and the main voice for our state. The LGBTQ Chamber is doing great things in the community. Charlotte Black Pride continues to grow and bring new people into the fold.

WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO SEE MORE OF FOR THE COMMUNITY IN THE FUTURE? We need to be taking part in all of the major conversations within the city.

Lots of changes are coming. I need to see more people taking part in more conversations than just ones that obviously affect us.

Johnny Wilson

he/him/his Director of Outreach, RAIN WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING ON THIS YEAR? I’ve been working on improving my career skill set. My goal is to implement effective programming while involving the LGBTQ community voice.

Overall, I will be creating a space for community members such as myself In planning and evaluating interventions that focus on our community, specifically the Black Gay Community.

My new role has taught and is teaching me how to manage, train and develop staff.

This will ensure that the work, career development and advancement never ceases.

HOW HAVE YOU BEEN HANDLING THE CHALLENGES OF THIS PAST YEAR? This past year has been challenging, however it has kept us at RAIN on our toes. COVID-19 has forced us to be innovative in changing the way we provide programming for the community.

I helped strategize new ways to provide programming for clients in the midst of a pandemic with little to no interruption of services.

WHAT IN YOUR LIFE PRESENTLY, OR UPCOMING, HAS YOU FEELING THE MOST EXCITED AND OPTIMISTIC? I’m super excited to keep growing in my career. I am prepared for new battles to come. I know that I can not only learn from them but overcome them with grace. I’m also eager to see what the future of RAIN holds.

WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE COMMUNITY CURRENTLY THAT IS GIVING YOU THE MOST CAUSE FOR PRIDE AND A SENSE OF HOPE? Currently I’m loving the way different organizations around Charlotte are learning to work together to maximize the grasp in the community. My sense of hope stems from the community collaborating on issues like HIV, barriers to care, homelessness, etc. to help make a change and a difference.

WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO SEE MORE OF FOR THE COMMUNITY IN THE FUTURE? I hope to see more qualified Black and Brown faces/people of color in supervisory positions regarding public health. POC are the most affected by barriers and comorbidities. I believe having POC in leadership positions will not only help build trust but it also adds realistic interventions and outcomes. POC have been known to have a larger presence with implementing programs. ▼

— Some answers were edited for clarity and brevity.

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Charlotte Pride Magazine

MORE THAN A THANK YOU LETTER /

AN UPDATE ON CHARLOTTE BLACK PRIDE’S BLACK LIVES MATTER PLEDGE

by Quin Kinard (she/her/hers) Community Outreach Director, Charlotte Black Pride

T

he Black Lives Matter Pledge was created and brought to the table by Charlotte Black Pride as a public pledge to be taken by many of our local Charlotte LGBTQ+ community organizations to stand in solidarity in acknowledging the years of systemic oppression and violence against black folx (especially black LGBTQIA+) and committing to make a change within their organizations to assure a positive forward movement for our black community. This pledge is a commitment of organizations to take a deeper look at where they may fall short and how they can create more opportunities for black people, diversify their organization, and to be publicly accountable for all commitments made in the pledge. A complete copy of the pledge and all organizations who’ve participated can be found at charlotteblackpride.org.

As the Community Outreach Director of Charlotte Black Pride, I have been responsible for reaching out to these amazing organizations and following up with what they’ve been doing to uphold their commitment to our community. There are a few organizations that I would love to highlight. Not only were their responses timely, but many of their responses to the questionnaire, created and received by me, warmed my heart. The efforts were very intentional in terms of creating change in their spaces for our Black Community.

The organizations which I’d love to praise in their efforts to follow through with their commitment to the pledge are as follows: ONE VOICE CHORUS We must understand the problem to create proper solutions. One Voice Chorus is the LGBTQIA+ and allies chorus of Charlotte. Through artistic excellence they work to increase the understanding and acceptance of LGBTQIA+ individuals. Cory Davis,

responding but for taking the time out to get some direction where it was needed to properly create change. We see you, we thank you, we appreciate you!

“Sometimes all we need is a positive example, a thank you, and a sense of togetherness ...

With the conscious efforts by those who can, you can change the world for those who can’t.”

— Quin Kinard (he/him), Artistic Director of One Voice Chorus, shared that he and their Board President took the time to participate in a workshop through the ASC titled, “Self to System.” This program was designed to help them address white supremacy and learn practices of antiracism in their organization and its creative process. Thank you so much One Voice not only for

CAMPUS PRIDE It must be challenging, learning who you are, starting college, learning resources that will align with who you are as a young maturing adult.

Campus Pride is here to help lead the way! Campus Pride is a 501(c)(3) organization for student leaders and campus groups working to create a safer college environment for LGBTQ+ students. Their primary objective is to develop resources, programs, services, and support LGBTQ+ & ally students on college campuses across the U.S. Shane Mendez Windmeyer (they/them, he/him), Executive Director, shared that they hired a woman of color to handle their social media, and that their “Live Laugh Love” Chats are POC/Trans/& Non-Binary led.

Campus Pride is making new intentional changes to ensure that voices and faces of all people are represented. Thank you so much Campus Pride for helping others find space and for creating change in ways that will help our community! We see you, we thank you, we appreciate you!

UNC CHARLOTTE – COUNSELING & PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES I was completely blown away by this last mention. It was more than what they do and have done but it was also Erica Lennon (she/her/), Psy.D. , Associate Director for Outreach, Counseling & Psychological Services at UNC Charlotte, being so kind to thank me for all that I do.

Before I begin, I want to say to you, Erica, thank you for all that you do.

I was blown away by how they are intentionally creating accessible and uplifting programs for the Black Community. Over the past two years they continued on page 46

October 2021 / Volume 3

43

CELEBRATING THE UNIQUENESS IN EACH OF US.

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It’s why we’re honored to sponsor Charlotte Pride and to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community.

Learn more about us at TheHartford.com

The Hartford® is The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries. 21-EX-933017 © August 2021 The Hartford

We take pride in being your financial partner.

We see your potential and possibilities and believe that an inclusive society creates a better future for us all. usbank.com/communitypossible U.S. Bank is proud to support Charlotte Pride.

Member FDIC. ©2019 U.S. Bank 251301c 10/19

WE VALUE EQUALITY because WE CARE This is our That’s

Charlotte Pride Magazine continued from page 43

held space at their annual OUTSPoken speaker series, which focusses on LGBTQ+ individuality, for two black LGBTQ+ people. They spoke to the resilience and power within black LGBTQ+ spaces and community. They also provide an initiative called Healing & Empowerment Gatherings that are specifically for particular communities and are implemented following hate-based violence enacted toward that community. Several of these gatherings have been held for the Black Student Community this past year, all of which have been facilitated by Black Professionals. Thank you so much UNC Charlotte for putting so much time, energy, and intentional effort into creating space and change! We see you, we thank you, we appreciate you!

I know I’ve shared so much information, but the purpose isn’t just to say thank you; it is to say, this is why we thank you and all should see. Sometimes all we need is a positive example, a thank you, and a sense of togetherness to understand how much our community means. It means a lot! With the conscious efforts by those who can, you can change the world for those who truly can’t. Thank you to all of our great community leaders and organizations. I look forward to our growth expanding as a community as we continue to be amazing humans.

— Quin can be reached by email at outreach@charlotteblackpride.org

TM

DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION

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October 2021 / Volume 3

Charlotte Pride Magazine

EQUALITY ACROSS CAROLINA /

CITIES ACROSS STATE PASS EXPAND NONDISCRIMINATION ORDINANCES

by Jeff Taylor (him/him/his)

I

nternational headlines. Late night jokes. Boycotts. It was the bill that, in 2016, brought all manner of the wrong kind of attention to the Tar Heel State: HB2.

The bill--passed in response to Charlotte City Council passing a nondiscrimination ordinance to protect LGBTQ people and it was signed into law by former Charlotte mayor and then-Gov. Pat McCrory. Not only did it nullify ordinances like Charlotte’s, it prevented local governments from passing them in the future. It also banned transgender people from using the bathrooms and locker rooms matching their gender identity in schools and government buildings.

Just one year after HB2’s passage, Gov. Roy Cooper, who had run in part on a pro-LGBTQ platform and spent time on the campaign trail bemoaning the stain on North Carolina’s reputation, signed another bill into law: HB142. Often referred to as a repeal of HB2, it was more of a compromise, leaving most of HB2’s teeth in place.

Bathroom and locker room access was still in the hands of state legislators, and cities and municipalities were still prevented from passing nondiscrimination ordinances for three years. Many advocates called the bill a “fake repeal.” As major events, like the NBA All-Star Game, returned to North Carolina, the status quo was still firmly in place, leaving marginalized North Carolinians in the lurch.

By summer of 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Schroeder signed a consent decree jointly filed

by Gov. Cooper and civil rights groups agreeing that HB142 could not be used to bar transgender people from using facilities matching their gender identity in state government buildings.

And it was only a matter of time before all that changed, and finally, after three long years — or four, depending how you choose to count it — a new day dawned in the state, as HB142’s sunset clause finally set

48

on December 1, 2019. The sunset left cities free to put protections back in place for LGBTQ people and other marginalized groups not protected under the state’s nondiscrimination ordinance.

CITIES TAKE UP NEW ORDINANCES Cities begin making history, passing nondiscrimination ordinances in short order. Just over a month later, in only the second week of the new year, three municipalities took advantage of their newfound freedom to make history once again in North Carolina: Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Hillsborough all unanimously passed ordinances protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination in public accomodations and employment.

“Every person deserves to be recognized in their full humanity and treated with decency and fairness,” said Hillsborough Mayor Jenn Weaver, after the town became the first municipality to pass such an ordinance.

While many LGBTQ workers were protected from discrimination in employment by the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in 2020 in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, the ruling only applied to employers with at least 15 employees. The ordinances passed by Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Hillsborough closed that gap by also prohibiting small businesses with fewer than 15 employees from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression.

“It just shows the importance of why these laws are needed and why cities and counties need to step up,” Allison Scott, director of policy and programs at the Campaign for Southern Equality, told NBC News.

More municipalities quickly did just that, with Durham, Greensboro and Orange County all following suit the next week by passing similar nondiscrimination ordinances. Now momentum was seriously picking up steam.

Next came Winston-Salem in March, followed by Asheville and Buncombe County in April, and then Apex in June.

Still, the Carolinas’ biggest city, the one that kicked it off some five years ago now, had yet to take a step in the direction of increased equality, and advocates were keen to press its leaders to get moving, holding a press conference outside the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center on May 24.

“We want equal access, not preferred treatment,” said Cameron Pruette, president of the LGBTQ+ Democrats of Mecklenburg County, pushing for Charlotte to put forward and pass its own nondiscrimination ordinance.

“We are here ... not to ask, but to demand that the city pass this nondiscrimination ordinance. We’ve done it before,” Daniel Valdez, president of the Charlotte Pride board, remarked at the rally. “Our movement was born out of police violence and brutality and was led by the amazing trans and people of color in our community. We must not forget that and we must do right by them and we must pass the nondiscrimination ordinance now. We cannot wait.”

CHARLOTTE JOINS THE RANKS More than two more months would pass before Charlotte’s council actually took up the ordinance and held a vote. It came with weeks worth of behind-the-scenes wrangling over the exact language of the new protections. Activists pushed to ensure that all employers, regardless of size, would be covered. They also wanted the city to ensure a real enforcement mechanism was added to the language.

On August 10, the measure finaly came to a vote. It passed unanimously, adding familial status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, pregnancy and natural hairstyle as classes protected October 2021 / Volume 3

Charlotte Pride Magazine

COMMUNITY RALLY Community leaders gathered on May 24, 2021, to demand the Charlotte City Council pass an expanded nondiscrimination ordinance. Daniel Valdez, president of Charlotte Pride, speaks at the podium. Credit: Matt Comer/Charlotte Pride.

against discrimination. Religious organizations are still allowed to require that employees adhere to its tenets as a condition of employment.

In advance of the vote, community members gathered at the government center to speak during the public comment period.

“We are your community. We are parents. We are business owners. We are students. We are Charlotteans, and all that we are asking is that you protect all Charlotteans now,” said Bethany Corrigan, Transcend Charlotte Executive Director, while addressing city council.

“What you’re doing tonight will protect those who can’t protect themselves in the marketplace,” said local business owner Billy Maddalon.

“Power and privilege in this room can be used to move the needle ever so slightly for the least, the lost, the last and the left out in our community: Our trans brothers and sisters, our young, our poor, our vulnerable, and our powerless.”

“I keep asking myself this question: ‘Why are we still having this conversa-

October 2021 / Volume 3

tion?’ Well, it’s because of people like me, it’s because of discrimination, it’s because this ordinance matters...This ordinance is extremely important to the citizens of the LGBTQ+ community, but in particular the trans and nonbinary community of which I’m a part of; we who continue to experience discrimination way too often,” said Debra J. Hopkins, founder and CEO of There’s Still Hope.

The council was clearly excited to come to a unanimous decision after years of the vote going the other way, also along non-partisan lines.

“I can honestly say that this is probably the most consequential and important vote I’ve taken in my nearly six years on city council, and that’s because it fulfills a promise that I made before I ran to work on a nondiscrimination ordinance that provides protections to all people regardless of how they identify and who they love,” said Mayor Pro Tem Julie Eiselt ahead of the vote.

“Being mayor is a great honor, but I certainly wish I were a council member so I may raise my hand, ‘yes,’” add-

ed Mayor Vi Lyles.

“This council has worked together on so many things and we have this moment where we actually come together and take every part of what our community and residents have asked, and we put it in a statement of values, and a statement of action that’s implementable and accountable,” she added.

Local and state advocates praised the council’s unanimous vote.

“My adopted city of Charlotte values me, values us,” Jenny Gunn, a board member with Charlotte’s NOW chapter and a volunteer team coordinator with Charlotte Pride, told The Charlotte Observer after the vote.

Advocates say they still want Charlotte’s leaders to explore enforcement mechanisms. Meanwhile, the ordinance’s provisions on public accommodations and some other protections come into effect in October.

Employment nondiscrimination provisions come into effect on New Year’s Day in January 1, 2022. ▼

— Matt Comer contributed.

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Charlotte Pride Magazine

12 Separate Original Poems /

BECOMING UNSHACKLED: A COMING-OUT STORY 1. THE BEGINNING: THE POINT IN TIME AND SPACE AT WHICH HE WAS LOVED INTO BEING January 21, 1963 It was a Monday, under the sign of Aquarius. born into a blizzard the child fair of face His mother knowing he was unique he was special her closest. a special bond How can you love your child – your son – too much?

Having a close relationship with his mother did not make him gay.

Being gay made him closer to his mother.

The boy needed her to fend off the ever-circling pariahs.

The predators smelled the coppery scent of fresh blood. a precious peculiar fluid flowing through his fragile veins Let him sleep.

Let him dream.

2. LITTLE BOY BLUE: THE POINT IN TIME AND SPACE AT WHICH HIS INNOCENCE WAS OVERTAKEN BY CHAOS

Little Boy Blue, come blow your horn, The sheep’s in the meadow, the cow’s in the corn.

Where is that boy who looks after the sheep?

He’s under a haystack, fast asleep.

Will you wake him? Oh no, not I, For if I do, he’ll surely cry. genuine innoce¬nce too fresh for adult responsibilities utter disorder and chaos

52

conceived and written by: Jim Kellogg, The Queer Poet (he/him/his)

A Note to the Reader: The following poems contain themes of mental health, violence, abuse, and trauma.

Please read with care.

Let him dream.

Let him sleep.

Let him dream. daunting and unpoetical reality too punitive – too unforgiving interwoven challenges too crowded too noisy Let him sleep.

Let him dream. simplicity too fresh for adult complexities a poet’s fate?

Let him sleep.

Let him dream.

3. THE AWAKENING: THE POINT IN TIME AND SPACE AT WHICH BEING QUEER MEANT BEING DIFFERENT He loved fancy things. his mother’s ornamental jewelry his mother’s lace wedding gown his mother’s jar of mismatched buttons He loved whimsical stuff. pretending that things were better than they were scatterbrained day dreams Dorothy’s yellow brick road He disliked anything rough. packs of football playing boys nasty sweaty things oil stained mechanical things He disliked living in a strange world where being queer was the last acceptable form of discrimination.

Let him sleep.

4. STICKS AND STONES: THE POINT IN TIME AND SPACE AT WHICH THE BULLIES CARVED OUT DEEP WOUNDS Sticks and stones may break his bones, but names will never hurt him…

You’re such a girl!

Faggot!

Queer Boy! Fem! Limp Wristed!

Weirdo!

Homo!

Gay Boy! Sissy!

Freak!

Pansy!

Abomination! the twisted sticks the bloodied stones deeply wounded him terrified him to his brittle core The rainbow blood, flowing through his veins, ran emotionless.

His soul was unjustly shackled.

Let him sleep.

Let him dream.

5. THE CLOSET: THE POINT IN TIME AND SPACE AT WHICH HIS SELF-CONJURED SANCTUARY WAS UNEARTHED The boy with rainbow blood flowing through his veins, found himself in a clandestine and consecrated space.

The colorless walls felt strangely warm and chummy.

Although it was tiny,

October 2021 / Volume 3

Charlotte Pride Magazine

it was not crowded and it was stirringly quiet.

The jury was silent.

There was no verdict.

This was his space – his new oasis.

He held the pass-key.

Unless he invited them in, no one would be able to intrude.

His dry bones would dance spontaneously wild.

His inspired lemon drop dreams would take unrepressed flight.

If only for stolen moments, he would be able to live a vivacious life full of brilliant color.

The truth would be guarded – safely tucked away and covered in a shroud of essential discretion.

There would be no more fear of persecution or rejection.

Disclosure would simply remain a noun.

Let him sleep.

Let him dream.

6. THE PREDATOR: THE POINT IN TIME AND SPACE AT WHICH HIS BODY AND PURITY WERE TAKEN Send word to the rest of the pack – Let the hunt begin! less than honest intentions well thought out plans cunningly hunting down his prey stalking our little boy blue no doubt – this hunt was not arbitrary manipulative slinking baiting insensitive grooming sickly-minded Let him sleep.

Let him dream.

Oblivious to the damage and the confusion he inflicted, (or was he?) the hunter surely obeyed the sole and selfish urge of discharging himself. penetrating the boy’s youthful body viciously pilfering his soul Let him sleep.

Let him dream.

The boy was taught to… fear deny fabricate pretend surrender His power to choose snatched from him.

Let him sleep.

Let him dream.

7. THE CHURCH: THE POINT IN TIME AND SPACE AT WHICH THEOLOGY BECAME LETHAL TO HIS SOUL Joy! finding a fancy space full of colorful wonder and charming pageantry a “safe space” for our prodigal unconditional soon became conditional acceptance soon became threat of rejection safety soon became overwhelming terror

Heteronormativity – belief predicated on archaic theory and watered down understandings – was like a stake viciously driven deep into his aching heart and desperately searching soul.

Heteronormativity quickly became homophobia. oppressing stigmatizing marginalizing the unquestioned non-place that anchored self-loathing His queer-self remained anonymous, holding no significance to be regarded as anything more than a dirty big secret. illusions of being their “normal” elaborate and grandiose schemes constantly playing an exhausting and childish game of tug of war His legitimacy masked from opportunities at whole love without limitation.

Horror! trapped in a muddled three ring circus formulaic creed told him he was less than – an absolute disgrace – for simply being who he was

The closet became his best friend foe retreat prison safety net bedlam.

forsakenness profound sorrow grievous rage

Let him sleep.

Let him dream.

Interpretation of the sacred text begot spiritual devastation.

Where are the open hands?

Where are the open hearts?

Where are the open doors?

Where is your loving god?

All he saw were plaster prophets. smeared whitewash – untempered mortar false visions divining lies vanity smut Let him sleep.

Let him dream.

8. THEIR EXPECTATIONS: THE POINT IN TIME AND SPACE AT WHICH HIS SOUL DRY HEAVED

9. LIBERATION: THE POINT IN TIME AND SPACE AT WHICH HE OUTGREW THE CLOSET more than an unpretentious metaphor the most terrifying thing in his early existence a lifetime of holding secrets a lifetime of perpetual confusion a lifetime of deceptive illusions more than an unpretentious metaphor the most liberating thing in his early existence authenticity to power absolute and unblinking clarity courage to be real more than a unpretentious metaphor no more merry bands of lost boys being a holdover or a wounded remnant being stuck or trapped being choice-less continued on page 55

October 2021 / Volume 3

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Charlotte Pride Magazine continued from page 53

more than a unpretentious metaphor unsticking the condemned memories taking on the true meaning of himself releasing the tragedies of bygone time tossing the relics of faded days his spring awakening wake him up let him live 10. SELF-ACTUALIZATION: THE POINT IN TIME AND SPACE AT WHICH HE LEARNED IT IS O.K. TO DANCE ALONE WITH HIS SOUL an open door delicate and dusty orb weavings constructed by home-abandoning spiders forced to face the thing rarely mentioned and understood an unmistakably pungent odor gusty breaths left behind by some ancient and forgotten closet dweller whispered sounds weeping fearful breathing echoing into the dark null-space standing among ashy dry bones no more excruciating exile no more sacrificial lamb going on to a different place unfolding his multi-colored soul letting the music be his teacher more than having options – being true to himself an open heart open hands an open door an open mind let him dance let him exhale 11. THE WORLD GETS TO SEE ME NOW: THE POINT IN TIME AND SPACE AT WHICH I CELEBRATE The world gets to see me now.

I’ve opened the unburnished door – like the dull surface cover of Grandpa’s pocket watch – and walked through it.

I’ve crossed the boundaries to follow the pansy path –

October 2021 / Volume 3

cultivated in many different ways and vivid colors.

I’ve found the opportunity to assess its ancient and queer wisdom.

I discover myself between eternal revolutions.

I am walking through nonconventional script, formed by the unnormative models of belonging.

Finding my hunger, I now cast-off the happily-ever-after permanence, The world gets to see me now.

Out of ordinary becomes extraordinary.

I was loved into being.

I am loved into being.

I will be loved into being.

I have been loved into being by… the pink triangle warriors the brick throwers those with purple-inked hands the Compton resistors the scarecrow crucified on the fence…

Let me love.

Let me be loved.

12. DEAR QUEER HEART By: Jim Kellogg 1-27-21 dear queer heart i am a little more than odd/different i am full of pride possessed with a due sense of worth i carry pride with tears in my eyes and a spring in my step i have learned to love myself and my rainbow queerness i once looked for a new context i found it when i beheld my inmost heart i found it when i brutally interrogated my soul demanding an agonizing coerced confession i found it when i gently came to know myself – silence – i uncovered neon colors – a babbling brook of phenomenal chances – streaming through the trials and travails of my life be still my queer heart i found the destiny of me assigned to me before my first-baby breath ▼ Credit: Cottonbro/Pexels.

55

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Charlotte Pride Magazine

Community Resources Advocacy

Arts

Campaign for Southern Equality southernequality.org

Charlotte Pride Band charlotteprideband.org

Equality North Carolina equalitync.org

Gay Men’s Chorus of Charlotte gmccharlotte.org

Freedom Center for Social Justice fcsj.org

One Voice Chorus onevoicechorus.com

Human Rights Campaign North Carolina hrc.org/in-your-area/north-carolina facebook.com/HRCCharlotte/

Health & HIV

LGBTQ Democrats of Mecklenburg County facebook.com/LGBTQMeckDems Log Cabin Republicans of North Carolina facebook.com/NCLCR/ Mecklenburg LGBTQ Political Action Committee (MeckPAC) facebook.com/meckpac North Carolina AIDS Action Network ncaan.org Safe Schools NC safeschoolsnc.org

-— Organization offers HIV-related care and services Affinity Health Center Locations in Rock Hill, Clover, and York 877-647-6363 affinityhealthcenter.org Amity Medical Group Locations in East Charlotte and South Charlotte 704-208-4134 amitymed.org Anuvia Prevention & Recovery Center 100 Billingsley Rd. Charlotte, NC 28211 704-376-7447 anuvia.org

Carolinas Care Partnership 5855 Executive Center Dr. Suite 102 Charlotte, NC 28212 704-531-2467 carolinascare.org Charlotte Transgender Healthcare Group cthcg.org Dudley’s Place 103 Commerce Centre Dr. Suite 103 Huntersville, NC 28078 704-977-2972 myrosedalehealth.com/dudley House of Mercy 100 McAuley Cir. Belmont, NC 28012 704-825-4711 thehouseofmercy.org Mecklenburg County Health Department Northwest Campus 2845 Beatties Ford Rd. Charlotte, NC 28216 704-336-6500 mecknc.gov/HealthDepartment/ClinicServices

STRENGTHENING FAMILIES, EMPOWERING ALLIES, AND ELEVATING LGBTQ+ COMMUNITIES. WE ARE PFLAG. PFLAGCHARLOTTE.ORG @PFLAGCHARLOTTE

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October 2021 / Volume 3

Charlotte Pride Magazine

Community Resources Directory provided by

Mecklenburg County Health Department Southeast Campus 249 Billingsley Rd. Charlotte, NC 28211 704-336-6500 mecknc.gov/HealthDepartment/ClinicServices Planned Parenthood Charlotte Health Center 700 S. Torrence St. Charlotte, NC 28204 704-536-7233 plannedparenthood.org/health-center/north-carolina/charlotte/28205/ charlotte-health-center-2703-90860 PowerHouse Project 1420 Beatties Ford Rd. Charlotte, NC 28216 980-999-5295 facebook.com/ThePowerhouseProject Quality Comprehensive Health Center Medical Clinic 3627 Beatties Ford Rd. Charlotte, NC 28216 704-394-8968 qchealth.net

CLTure clture.org

RAIN 601 E. 5th St. Suite 470 Charlotte, NC 28202 704-372-7246 carolinarain.org

Hola News holanews.com La Noticia lanoticia.com

RAO Community Health 321 W. 11th St. Charlotte, NC 28202 704-237-8793 raoassist.org

QCityMetro qcitymetro.com

Rosedale Health and Wellness 103 Commerce Centre Dr. Suite 103 Huntersville, NC 28078 704-948-8582 myrosedalehealth.com

Online and Print Media

QNotes qnotescarolinas.com Qué Pasa Mi Gente charlotte.quepasanoticias.com Queen City Nerve qcnerve.com Scalawag Magazine scalawagmagazine.org

Axios Charlotte charlotte.axios.com Charlotte Magazine charlottemagazine.com Charlotte Observer charlotteobserver.com Charlotte Post thecharlottepost.com

RFN is on

and

Would you like to make a difference in the life of an LGBTQ+ youth? Foster families and volunteers are needed!

Supporting LGBTQ+ youth in foster care and their foster families.

www.rainbowfosternetwork.org October 2021 / Volume 3

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Charlotte Pride Magazine

Community Resources Social & Support Carolina Bear Lodge carolinabearlodge.club Charlotte Tradesmen charlottetradesmen.org Carolina Transgender Society carolinatransgendersociety.com

Erase Trans Hate Carolinas facebook.com/ groups/393107558452641 Feed The Movement facebook.com/feedthemovementclt Hearts Beat as One Foundation heartsbeatone.org

Charlotte Black Pride charlotteblackpride.org

Pauli Murray LGBTQ+ Bar Association lgbtqbarnc.com

Charlotte Gaymers Network charlottegaymersnetwork.com

The Plus Collective thepluscollective.org

Carolinas LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce clgbtcc.org

Poor No More Free Store facebook.com/PoorNoMoreCharlotte/

Charlotte LGBTQ Elders charlottelgbtqelders.org

Prime Timers of Charlotte chapters.theprimetimersww.com/ charlotte-ftp/

Charlotte Pride charlottepride.org

Queen City Connects queencityconnects.com

Charlotte Uprising charlotteuprising.com

Southern Country Charlotte southerncountrycharlotte.com

Crisis Assistance Ministry 500-A Spratt St. Charlotte, NC 28206 704-371-3001 crisisassistance.org

There’s Still Hope! tshcharlotte3.org

Twirl to the World Foundation twirltotheworld.org Roof Above roofabove.org A new organization which merges the: Men’s Shelter of Charlotte 1210 North Tryon St. Charlotte, NC 28206 704-334-3187 mensshelterofcharlotte.org Urban Ministry Center 945 N. College St. Charlotte, NC 28206 704-347-0278 urbanministrycenter.org

Transcend Charlotte transcendcharlotte.org

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October 2021 / Volume 3

Charlotte Pride Magazine

Community Resources Directory provided by

Sports

Youth & Family

Charlotte Rainbowlers charlotterainbowlers.com

Campus Pride campuspride.org

Charlotte Roller Girls charlotterollergirls.com

Central Piedmont Pride Alliance Central Piedmont Community College facebook.com/groups/CPCCPrideAlliance/

Charlotte Royals Rugby charlotteroyalsrugby.com Queen City Tennis Club facebook.com/groups/36411747197 Stonewall Sports Includes bowling, corn hole, dodgeball, esports, kickball, softball, volleyball stonewallcharlotte.org

Time Out Youth Center 3800 Monroe Rd. Charlotte, NC 28205 704-344-8335 timeoutyouth.org UNC Charlotte Office of Identity, Equity and Engagement Student Union 210 & King 210 704-687-7121 identity.uncc.edu

Center for Diversity & Inclusion Davidson College LGBTQ@davidson.edu 704-894-3103 davidson.edu/offices-and-services/ diversity-and-inclusion Gender Education Network gendereducationnetwork.org PFLAG Charlotte pflagcharlotte.org Rainbow Foster Network facebook.com/RainbowFosterNetwork/

Keep us Updated: See a listing in this community resource directory or other information in this magazine that needs to be updated or corrected? Send us an email to media@charlottepride.org.

October 2021 / Volume 3

65

Charlotte Pride Magazine

Interfaith Directory The Charlotte Pride Interfaith Directory is a new community resource making its debut in Fall 2021. For many years, various versions of LGBTQ-affirming faith resource lists have existed nationally, regionally, and locally.

Few have taken intentional efforts to document and confirm faith institutions’ practical commitment to affirmation, inclusion, and equity of women and LGBTQ people in the full life of their faith communities.

The Charlotte Pride Interfaith Directory is inspired by the national work of Church Clarity. We share Church Clarity’s conviction that faith institutions should clearly communicate their beliefs, practices, and policies. “Many churches fail to disclose their actively enforced policies,” Church Clarity states. “Ambiguity enables those with power to operate without accountability and case real harm.”

Learn more about Church Clarity at churchclarity.org.

While similar in many respects to Church Clarity’s online database, this Charlotte Pride Interfaith Directory differs in several key ways. First, it is entirely focused on our local and regional community.

Second, our directory will include faith congregations of all faith traditions, not just those from the Christian tradition. Third, while Church Clarity also lists and discloses the practices of non-affirming institutions, this Charlotte Pride Interfaith Directory will only list those who meet certain criteria.

To be listed in the directory, organizations must voluntarily choose to submit their listing. Additionally, they must meet four key criteria: (1) Accept openly LGBTQ members, (2) Allow openly LGBTQ members and women to take leadership roles, (3) Ordain openly LGBTQ people and women, and (4) Perform same-gender marriages. Two additional criteria are asked of each organization: Do they have an LGBTQ affinity or study group and do they financially support and/or participate in LGBTQ-affirming causes, organizations, or events. The directory also asks each faith institution to disclose its faith tradition, denomination, or affiliation.

The following list of faith resources to the right is compiled from those organizations which have already opted to voluntarily submit themselves to this directory. To learn more or to submit your organization, visit charlottepride.org/interfaith/. The Charlotte Pride Interfaith Directory will be published online this fall.

We Want to Know You. Here at Novant Health, every detail of who you are matters to us. Because it matters to your health.

All are welcome here.

NovantHealth.org © Novant Health, Inc. 2021 7/21 • GCM-834131

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Caldwell Presbyterian Church Presbyterian Church (USA) 1609 East Fifth St. Charlotte, NC, 28204 704-334-0825 caldwellpresby.org Havurat Tikvah Jewish, Reconstructionist 2821 Park Rd. Charlotte, NC 28209 980-225-5330 havurattikvah.org

Missiongathering Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) 420 E. 15th St. Charlotte, NC 28206 704-412-4028 missiongathering.com M2M Charlotte Presbyterian Church (USA) 3601 Central Avenue Charlotte, NC 28205 m2mcharlotte.org

First United Methodist Church-Charlotte United Methodist 501 N. Tryon Street Charlotte, NC 28202 704-333-9081 charlottefirst.org

St. John’s Baptist Church Alliance of Baptists, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship 300 Hawthorne Ln. Charlotte, NC 28204 704-333-5428 www.stjohnsbaptistchurch.org

Holy Trinity Lutheran Church Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 1900 The Plaza Charlotte, NC 28205 704-377-5439 htlccharlotte.org

St. Peter’s Episcopal Church Episcopal Church 115 West 7th St. Charlotte, NC 28202 st-peters.org

Wedgewood Community Church Interfaith 4800 Wedgewood Dr Charlotte, NC 28210 704-641-0454 wedgewoodcharlotte.org Unitarian Universalist Community of Charlotte Unitarian Universalism 234 N. Sharon Amity Rd. Charlotte, NC 28211 704-366-8623 uuccharlotte.org Inclusion Community United Methodist Church PO Box 2292 Cornelius, NC 28031 inclusioncommunity.org

Sardis Baptist Church Alliance of Baptists, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship 5811 Sardis Rd. Charlotte, NC 28270 704-362-0811 sardisbaptistcharlotte.org

Proud sponsor of Charlotte Pride.

Proud ally to the LGBTQ+ community.

mvalaw.com October 2021 / Volume 3

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Charlotte Pride Magazine

Pride in the Carolinas

Charlotte Pride is a member of the International Association of Pride Organizers (InterPride) the United States Association of Prides, and Prides of the Southeast. We are proud to support and highlight our sibling Pride organizations across the Carolinas.

Blue Ridge Pride Asheville, NC blueridgepride.org

Greensboro Pride Greensboro, NC greensboropride.org

Pride Winston Salem Winston-Salem, NC pridews.org/

Alamance Pride Burlington, NC alamancepride.org

Hendersonville Pride Hendersonville, NC hendersonvillepride.org

Sylva Pride Sylva, NC facebook.com/SylvaNCPride/

Charlotte Black Pride Charlotte, NC charlotteblackpride.org

Catawba Valley Pride Hickory, NC catawbavalleypride.org

Charleston Pride Charleston, SC charlestonpride.org

Charlotte Pride Charlotte, NC charlottepride.org

ENC Pride Kinston, NC encpride.org

Pride Durham Durham, NC pridedurhamnc.org

Outer Banks PrideFest Manteo, NC obxpridefest.com

South Carolina Black Pride Columbia, SC facebook.com/southcarolina.blackpride/

NENC Pridefest Elizabeth City, NC nencpridefest.com

Out! Raleigh Raleigh, NC outraleigh.org

Fayetteville Black Pride Fayetteville, NC facebook.com/fayettevilleblackpride/

Salisbury Pride Salisbury, NC salisburypride.com

Fayetteville Pride Fayetteville, NC fayettevillepride.org

Port City Pride Wilmington, NC facebook.com/PortCityPrideBlockParty

South Carolina Pride Columbia, SC scpride.org Upstate Pride SC Spartanburg, SC upstatepridesc.org DID YOU KNOW? With 18 groups, N.C. has the second-highest number of Pride groups in the Southeast. Florida is first, with 29 groups. Virginia has 15.

We’re open to the community.

Everyone in the community.

Truliant is proud to continue its partnership with Charlotte Pride and celebrate the diversity that makes our community stronger.

Truliant.org Federally insured by NCUA.

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Charlotte Pride Magazine

20 Years of Charlotte Pride

continued from page 21

2021. On Nov. 13, Charlotte Pride will host a community conference and job fair. The next day, thousands of donated clothing items and other resources will be available to community members free of charge at the Charlotte Pride Free Store.

THE NEXT 20 YEARS Fifty years ago, one of the city’s earliest, most outspoken, and most iconic community leaders lamented that Charlotte wouldn’t be hosting any marches any time soon. He was right, of course, but he —perhaps unwittingly, perhaps not — began planting the seeds for a community that would grow to heights unthinkable in the mid-‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s — when nearly all LGBTQ people lived with the daily fear of losing their jobs, homes, and lives.

Forty years on from Charlotte’s and North Carolina’s first Pride events and 20 since Charlotte Pride’s founding, the city and state around us look different. Our Pride events are larger.

Our community’s voice stronger. Employment protections and marriage equality are written in law.

But a movement never stops moving, and neither does the community’s needs. The same issues faced by most LGBTQ people 40 or 50 years ago remain largely unaddressed for transgender and gender non-conforming people, and especially Black and Brown transgender women — critical needs oftentimes ignored outright by gay and straight people alike.

What does the next 20 years hold for the Pride Movement in Charlotte?

The next 40? It’s hard to predict the future, and we won’t know until we get there. But one thing is certain: We won’t get there without each other.

And that’s what this year’s special 20th anniversary is about. It’s about You. About Me. About Us. All of Us. The Gay Liberation Movement which spawned our Pride Movement today found its strength and inspiration in the acts of resistance, courage, and bravery of people society had

cast to the curb: Black and Latinx trans women like Miss Major, Marsha P. Johnson, and Sylvia Rivera, butch lesbians like Stormé DeLarverie, bisexual women like Joni Sobel, gay men like today’s publisher of Philadelphia Gay News and Gay Liberation Front co-founder Mark Segal, and the young, houseless street hustlers, sex workers, college students, closeted professionals, and others whose names most of us will never know.

The sacrifices of the past decades have led us to the amazing opportunities ahead of us — opportunities to serve, to love, to build our community, and, most importantly, opportunities to ensure the Liberation Movement lives on stronger and better than we or our forebears could ever imagine. ▼

Learn More & Get Involved

The Charlotte Pride History Project is working to document, collect, preserve, and present local and regional LGBTQ and Pride Movement history in Charlotte and the Carolinas. Learn more and get involved at charlottepride.org/history/.

October 2021 / Volume 3

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PRIDEFUL. POWERFUL. PURPOSEFUL. We are proud to be the first law firm to engage in a multiyear sponsorship of Charlotte Pride.

This partnership extends a collaboration that began last year and will evolve as we promote equality and inclusion across the globe.

We will continue to support our local LGBTQ community and look forward to the initiatives to come.

K&L Gates LLP. Global counsel across five continents.

Learn more at klgates.com.

CHARLOTTE

PRIDE

S D N E I R FOF E D

I R P

U B I R CONT

!

Y A D TE TO

o T YEAR-r R O P P U S AND F PRIDE O D N E I R AF BECOME

Charlotte Pride’s individual giving program, FRIENDS OF PRIDE, allows you to give back and support Charlotte Pride programming throughout the year. Your monthly contribution goes directly toward sustaining the community-driven work of Charlotte Pride in Arts & Culture, Economic Growth & Upward Mobility, Community Solidarity, and Visibility & Education. Give today, with Pride!

SEE FULL DETAILS AND BECOME A FRIEND OF PRIDE ONLINE AT:

charlottepride.org/friends

und c

program e d i r p e harlott

AT I O N S N O D Y L M O N T H TA R T I N G AT : S

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