LGBTQ

Our Day Out: The LGBTQ Community Steps Out of the Shadows

info@paulimurraycenter.org — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 19:48:43 +0000

Our Day Out: The LGBTQ Community Steps Out of the Shadows info@paulimurr… Mon, 03/01/2021 - 14:48

Durham’s LGBTQ community used political activism to propel their fight for liberation into the public eye in the early 1980s. They were moved to action by two hate crimes: the murders of the Greensboro Five at a Communist Workers Party anti-Klan demonstration in 1979, and the anti-gay assault and murder of Ronald “Sonny” Antonevitch in April 1981 which led to a vigil at the courthouse. Debbie Swanner and David Ransom organized “Our Day Out,” North Carolina’s first gay and lesbian march a few months later as a response to these hate crimes. On June 27, 1981, three hundred marchers courageously stood together as a community. They started at Five Points Plaza in downtown Durham, traveled up Chapel Hill Street, looped around the courthouse, and marched back down Main Street, singing, chanting, making speeches, and picnicking along the way.

Attendance at the march was risky. Being an out queer person could lead to the loss of a job, housing, even the custody of children. The looming threat of Klan violence led to an intense police presence, and some marchers wore paper bags over their heads to avoid recognition. But many of the LGBTQ marchers were experienced political activists who had been engaged in movements for other groups’ rights—Antonevitch’s murder simply invigorated them to speak up for their own community. Despite the risk, the march turned out to be a fully peaceful celebration of Durham’s LGBTQ community. “Our Day Out” paved the way for future LGBTQ pride events in Durham, evolving into Durham’s first annual Pride March in 1986—a tradition that continues today.

Learn more here:

www.durhamlgbtqhistory.org

https://www.ncdcr.gov/blog/2018/06/18/pride-month-triangle-pride

Date

Sat, 06/27/1981 - 12:00

Location Coordinates

POINT (-78.90350109296 35.996841247351)

Tags:

LGBTQ

LGBTQ Rights

Community Organizing

Five Points Plaza - 334 W Main St, Durham, NC 27701

Sara Heilman

El Chino Latino - Connecting Across Culture and Sexual Orientation

balau — Wed, 08 Jun 2016 19:07:06 +0000

El Chino Latino - Connecting Across Culture and Sexual Orientation balau Wed, 06/08/2016 - 15:07

El Chino Latino serves as a half restaurant-half night club, providing patrons with hybrid Chinese Latin American food and drag shows, dancing, and drinks. Open since before the early 2000’s, El Chino Latino represents a unique intersection of the Chinese, Latinex, and LGBT+ communities. Historically, the queer community has been a crossroads of people of all races, religions, and socioeconomic backgrounds, from transgender women of color to homosexual Jewish men. Therefore, the significance of El Chino Latino’s intersectionality cannot be understated; many individuals, particularly within the LGBTQ+ community struggle to find spaces which cater to multiple aspects of their identity. El Chino Latino serves as both a safe space and a meeting place for a community which faces prejudice based on both race and sexuality. Establishments like this can be very validating to the individual.

On April 17, 2015 El Chino Latino hosted the First Annual Miss Gay Durham- RTP America Pageant, a preliminary for Miss Gay America North Carolina and the first official pageant of its kind to take place in Durham. Miss Gay America, or MGA, is the oldest, largest, and most well respected pageant system for female impersonators in the world. Beginning in Tennessee in 1972, the MGA pageants continue today with regional qualifiers across the country. Today, El Chino Latino remains open, catering to a wide variety of audiences: primarily transgender women of color and other queer Latinx individuals.

EDIT: Unfortunately, El Chino Latino is no longer in operation.

For more information:

El Chino Latino Facebook Page

Indy Week Article

Location Coordinates

POINT (-78.847383 35.987248)

Tags:

LGBTQ

Cross Cultural Effort

2900 Holloway Street

Reilly Johnson

iNSIDEoUT - Fighting for LGBTQ Youth Rights

barbara — Mon, 28 Mar 2016 19:32:36 +0000

iNSIDEoUT - Fighting for LGBTQ Youth Rights barbara Mon, 03/28/2016 - 15:32

iNSIDEoUT 180 empowers LGBTQ students in high schools across the Triangle. Run by the youth with adult support, the organization plans Queer Prom and helps students organize new Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) organizations in their schools. They often meet with resistance, but also give youth a strong voice and a safe place to be themselves.

Jackson: iNSIDEoUT is a network of local GSAs in the Triangle and it organizes events and basically unifies all of those high schools and even some of the universities.

Shani: It was kind of a way to break barriers in my hometown, like it helped me as well as other people in my community, you know, figure out who they were and basically how to accept who they are. People shouldn’t feel bad because they’re confused or they’re of an alternate lifestyle

Jackson: Queer Prom is one of our largest events that’s basically a prom for all of the iNSIDEoUT members so that they can feel comfortable at a dance and dance with whoever they want as opposed to how it might be at their other school.

Amy: We have workshops that are youth run. We’ve had workshops on gender and advocacy work. They’ve also lobbied for the passage of the School Violence Prevention Act.

Narrator: From the dances to the advocacy work, iNSIDEoUT is organized and led by students from all schools. It was clear from my conversation with the youth and their advisor that being young does not mean your voice cannot be heard. In fact, maybe the perspective they have to share is that much more powerful.

Shani: People look at me and be like you just don’t know who you are or you don’t know what you want. You’re right, but the knowledge that I have, the fact that I know that I’m still trying to find who I am, that shows that I’m moving forward rather than sitting back and judging people.

Amy: There’s ageism from every direction saying “You’re a young person so you need to follow and not lead and you need to do what we say.” A lot of the challenge has been just to get them to realize that they’re in control.

Shani: It’s not how old you are, it’s not what you do- it comes from knowledge. And it’s not being book smart, but you know, it’s learning life lessons, like actually taking the time to sit down and realize everything that’s around you.

Narrator: As iNSIDEoUT plans ahead for Queer Prom and different retreats, they also keep in mind the youth across the state that do not have any support in their schools. In the years to come, they hope that iNSIDEoUT, or organizations like it, will spread across North Carolina.

Shani: This organization changed my life and I would love to give that to another child just to see them flourish and basically become the person that some of their friends will never get to be.

Location Coordinates

POINT (-78.920814 36.018566)

Tags:

LGBTQ

Youth

Empowerment

NC School of Science and Math, 1219 Broad Street, Durham, NC 27705

Leah Elliott

LGBTQ Welcoming Faith Community

barbara — Mon, 28 Mar 2016 19:21:11 +0000

LGBTQ Welcoming Faith Community barbara Mon, 03/28/2016 - 15:21

Affirming faith communities are very important to many lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people. Imani MCC is one of those communities since its founding in November of 1977. Imani, meaning faith in Swahili, is open to all people including members of the LGBTQ community.

“Had I not found Imani, I think I would have been dead.”

These sobering words are a reminder of the intense struggles that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans face. Toka Pearson, originally from Montgomery, Alabama, ran away from home when she was fifteen years old so that she could feel free to be who she was. Without a strong support network of affirmation, Toka was led down a road of hardship and depression. That is, until she found Imani Metropolitan Community Church, where she was taught the value of being herself.

“God loves you, we love you, just the way that you are. It was a beautiful thing for me…it was a
beautiful thing for me.”

Started by the Reverend Wanda Floyd in November, 1998, Imani MCC has been a welcoming place for all members of the Durham community for thirteen years. Imani, meaning “faith” in Swahili, accepts all people into its congregation, no matter their past history, transgressions, or identities. This often includes members of the LGBT community, who have few other places to worship and feel like they are free from judgment, but Imani is not restrictive.

“MCC Churches are not gay churches. They’re affirming churches, and people say “Well you go to a gay church.” No I don’t. I go to a church that’s all-accepting, all inclusive, doesn’t matter how you come.”

As Imani continues to grow as a faith community, so do its services in the field of civil rights. A place that literally saves lives, Imani holds a special place for Durham and in the fight for LGBT acceptance. More than anything, Imani is an incredible support network, and teaches the value of love and self-empowerment, especially for traditionally oppressed groups.

“People who have been dis[en]franchised, or marginalized as you might say, people like that need to know that Imani is here.”

Date

Sun, 11/16/1997 - 12:00

Tue, 10/13/2015 - 12:00

Location Coordinates

POINT (-78.883015 35.934292)

Tags:

Faith

LGBTQ

3502 C-View Street, Durham, NC 27713

Sean Dillard