Rainbow Connections

Photo by James Patton, courtesy of Blue Ridge Pride Center

Taking pride in diversity

It’s official: Asheville is LGTBQIA-friendly —

• ...and has been for years. Back in 2010, Asheville was ranked by The Advocate as one of America’s top 15 gayest cities. “With its thriving art scene and adorable homes, Asheville is a prime example of the new gay South,” The Advocate opined.

• The city was ranked one of the 20 best places for LGBTQ retirement in 2019 by senioradvice.com.

• In 2013, Buncombe County Register of Deeds Drew Reisinger made national news by accepting gay marriage applications, despite North Carolina’s constitutional ban on gay marriage. The ban was later overturned, in 2014, by a U.S. District Court decision. The day of the court decision, same-sex couples in Asheville became among the first in the state to wed.

• In 2015, Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer penned an open invitation, welcoming LGBTQ visitors.

• Buncombe County voters elected their first openly lesbian county commissioner in 2016, Jasmine Beach-Ferrara.

• In another milestone, openly lesbian Tammy Hooper became Asheville’s first female police chief, serving from 2015-19. • Asheville City Council unanimously voted in 2016 to call for the repeal of North Carolina’s controversial “bathroom bill,” HB2.

“Asheville is different in that there is no ‘gayborhood,’ or a gay mecca,” Jerry Conner, a longtime Ashevillean who operates GayAshevilleNC.com, told livability.com. “We’ve really always been very diverse and open, and a gay environment even back in the [nineteen-]thirties.”

In 2019, the North Carolina Room at Pack Memorial Library hosted an LGBTQ history pop-up that featured archival material from its collection, including photographs and written documents, telling the story of the city’s queer community from 1972-2002. The North Carolina Room has an extensive archival website and is open to the public, Tuesday-Saturday.

Currently, UNC Asheville English professor Amanda Wray, in partnership with Blue Ridge Pride Center, is creating Western North Carolina’s first LGBTQ oral history archive. Interviews will be stored at UNC Asheville Ramsey Library’s Special Collections.

Entertaining Options

• O’Henry’s The oldest gay bar in North Carolina, established 1976; drag show every Friday at midnight

• The Underground Industrial dance bar in the back of O.Henry’s

• Grove House Entertainment Complex With three venues: Club Eleven, Scandals, Boiler Room

• The Grey Eagle Hosts Youth OUTright’s monthly drag brunches

• Banks Ave Bar Regular queer-friendly drag shows

• Alley Cat Social Club Occasional queer events

• Odditorium Occasional drag shows

• The Crow and Quill Sundays are a Drag! variety show

Organizations And Websites Of Interest

• The Campaign for Southern Equality is headquartered in Asheville

• Blue Ridge Pride Center Oral History Project and Community Partner Fund

• LGBTQ Elder Advocates of Western North Carolina Gay men’s book club, LGBTQ social lunch, community calendar & directory

• YouthOUTright.org Youth advocacy and leadership for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning/queer, intersex, asexual and allied (LGBTQIA+) youth

• Gayashevillenc.com Directory of social groups, book clubs, theater groups, health-related groups, athletic groups, youth organizations, elder groups, spiritual groups.