Gay Charlotte and LGBTQ Carolina News, Arts & Entertainment
Pride events in Charlotte grew out of the activism of the 1970’s, such as the short-lived Charlotte Gay Alliance co-founded by the late Don King in 1972, and a chapter of Dignity, organized in 1977, and later changed to Acceptance to expand its diversity and outreach.
In 1984, when Greg Brafford became part-owner of O’leens, one of Charlotte, N.C.’s most storied gay bars, the city was not far removed from the time when “suspected homosexuals” would be arrested in Freedom Park and have their names featured on the front page of The Charlotte Observer.
In Charlotte, Bishop Tonyia M. Rawls created the Freedom Center for Social Justice (FCSJ) 10 years ago to be a “culture-shifting organization committed to the growth, safety, and empowerment of marginalized populations.”
Tina Wright and Nikki Lynn Thomas are both archivists at J. Murray Atkins Library at University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC) involved with the King-Henry-Brockington Archive, a collection of materials relating to LGBTQ history in Charlotte.
It’s hard to label the multi-talented Reina Mora or her genre of music, and that’s a good thing. Her wide range of vocals, dense and textured music and three hit singles, made her one of music industry’s breakout artists of 2018.
Do you ever get stuck into that vicious cycle of worrying where you get overwhelmed with worrying and fearful thoughts?
To give is Divine — seriously. Whether you have a black heart, red heart or pink heart, the legendary “Drag Queen of the Century” Divine knew it best. Charity has always been part of being a drag queen.
A reader asks: “My boyfriend moved into a house with four other gay men. Now, he hardly wants to be with me anymore. He also won’t talk about it. Help!”
Like most major American cities, Charlotte is suffering from a severe shortage of affordable housing. More than a third of households in Charlotte are “cost-burdened,” which means they spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing, according to a city report.
The Solutions Journalism Network and the Knight Foundation teamed up to form the new Charlotte Journalism Collaborative a few months ago. The group selected the affordable housing issue as the initial focus for the reporting work we will publish over the coming year.
