voyager12

Very well said..thank you I think our best approach continues to be living out and honest lives. That's the most direct and disarming type of activism there is.

So it seems.... ^ When I moved here from SC, gay friends in the Chapel Hill were shocked that I would consider Charlotte since they think anything outside of The Triangle is no go territory for gays. Of course everyone's perception is different and Charlotte does have the largest gay community in the Carolinas. Our political culture is more conservative though and there is much less visibility as a result. Asheville gets a lot of national hype but outside of downtown/montford/westville which are not big areas, the overall region is virulently anti-gay. And we have already discussed the progressive influence that highly ranked universities and the RTP has on the Raleigh-Durham area. I try not to be too negative on this thread and do make a point of posting good news. But it's just a fact that we are starkly deficient on this issue in comparison to other major metros in the Carolinas.

On Weds 6pm @ The Levine Museum on 7th a discussion is being held regarding Rights,Race, and Religion in Charlotte's LGBT community. The forum will focus on what needs to be done to make our city more inclusive. Representatives from various community groups will be there. The Raleigh CVB has launched an LGBT microsite linked to the main page. Information includes details on upcoming events and links to gay friendly churches and other points of interest that maybe helpful to gay visitors. Charlotte's CVB can't even mention the "gay" word without causing a huge outcry because creating a simple info page here is just too fair and openminded for this town. Nice that CCCP listed Black Gay Pride and Pride Charlotte on their calendar for this month. They have been good about it the last two years. Guess the campaign to stop omittting us before that has stuck.

I hope the management is completely new. The previous group that ran the prior incarnations treated their employees and much of the public like crap. No one has forgotten that.

I like Circle too. Would have been nice to have a little differentiation in design. It's a little monotonous but that's par for the course for all complexes these days.

I wonder what will become of the building near East&West that once housed the ever moving Heck Yeah Coffee Hub. I think it's a cool structure and liked the hanging bike sign. I never stopped in, actually seemed like a social club for the skater/emo crowd more than anything else. How was their coffee?

It makes sense for these projects to incorporate LRT in their marketing but it's not practical for the close in complexes. It's a pretty easy walk or bike ride to the CBD from Circle or Millenium. Why pay even a small fee if you don't have to? With movies intown and the Target nearby there is also no incentive to ride in the other direction.

Buck Wild, a bar on U City Blvd is now hosting gay nights every Thursday. Calling the events"Fierce". Because fierce is a patented gay word apparently I don't think I am fierce enough to attend...and it's not my scene but I am thinking it will do well with the college crowd. Nice to see more visible options spreading out across the city. Charlotte Black Gay Pride runs from July 16-19th details @ charlotteblackgaypride.com I had fun when I went a few years ago. Charlotte Pride Festival @ pridecharlotte.com is July 25th. It's always blazin hot but I have had a good time every year and it's a great opportunity to restock my sticker collection.

^ Great News One less surface lot in this town is always welcome since we are oversaturated. Especially in this district which encourages higher density, this will give a great boost of life to that side of Camden.

I try to support Southend's fledgling "downtown" because it's exactly the kind of urbanity we need more of but I am going to write off American Apparel. Aside from the fact that I can get the same AA $30 basic tee for $5 at Manifest or Sleepy Poet. ( Literally the same AA shirt was in the clearance section in the back of Manifest on South when I bought it for $5 last week) I know they are pricier because it's all made in the USA and they pay their workers good wages. That's all great but I just personally can't afford it on a regular basis. All that aside the another major annoyance is the employees snotty "I am too cool to be friendly" attitude. Most responses to questions are sighs or you just get totally ignored. Must be in the AA training manual as I have encountered this vibe in all of their stores I have been to nationwide. Well, the other places in Southend are uniformly genuine and friendly. And locally owned so I will just spend more time going to them.

Crisp, the newish salad place @ Pecan&7th is open for dinner daily and it's a good time of year for healthy light meals. The FCN (Fruit,Cheese,Nut) salald is my favorite but they are all good and they also have sandwiches.

Checked out the new Hong Kong location yesterday. Very cool layout with a great mix of stuff. I will be going there often.

Given this city's propensity for demolition it's surprising the storefronts in the heart of the neighborhood still exist at all. Was it just dumb luck?

Read an ad for Circle today that listed complimentary folding bikes for residents. Pretty nifty

Central between Pecan&Thomas is really the only part of Charlotte that feels like a real walkable city for me. It's just so painfullly short. Has there ever been any serious discussion about infill where that always empty parking lot sits past the drugstore? There is so much space there that could be better utilized. Right now it's just weird and a little depressing to have mindless frontloaded parking lots and sprawl along Central then a brief oasis of urbanity in PM's commercial core and right back to waste. I am grateful for what we do have but it's endlessly depressing to travel to cities that have such neighborhoods that go on for blocks and blocks and blocks and then come back here, it's just not even close to comparable.

^ I believe so. It's also worth pointing out that this bill would be DOA if McCrory had won. And I don't think the House could override.

Some good news on the state level regarding gays. The NC House gave preliminary approval to an anti-bullying bill that specifically includes gay kids. The final vote is later today. Only seven other states have specifically included gay students for protection under anti-bullying laws, according to the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network, an advocacy group for such laws: California, Iowa, Maryland, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont and Washington state. If all goes according to plan Perdue will sign it and NC will join this small group. This policy seems to mirror the CMS rule.

I don't like most of the local radio, but The End's New Music&Indie show is worth a listen I think. It's on around 7pm Sundays I have discovered some great songs from it.

I was glad to read that the mill rehab by Tuscan is not dead.

I was out late last night and stopped by the gas station @ East&Kenilworth for some munchies. As I was getting into my car to leave a guy my age walked over. He said he would give me $20 if I would drive him to a house two blocks away ,knock on the door and run away. A tad weird ya think ? He looked pretty stoned. I politely declined said offer and drove off. Not the first time strange encounters have happened to me at that store after midnight. I hope I don't look that gullible

Since this thread is based on Charlotte gay issues, I don't want to go to far off topic nationally....but the "benefits" being offered while an improvement are scraps via a memorandum that expire when he leaves office and don't cover health benefits which DOMA prevents. A law Obama is supposedy against but cheerleaded in a DOJ brief. And the whole announcement is timed to save a GLBT DNC fundraiser that should still be boycotted. But I can rant about that on Queerty. I continue to hear that DP benefits for County employees will be brought up in the Fall. Although I worry with the severe budget cuts we will get a lot of " we can't afford that now". The votes are on our side are pretty solid though. The hearings will be very heated, as they always are when the horrible gays with our "radical homosexual agenda" actually push to be treated fairly in the public sphere in this town

Does HK carry mens clothes? I can find cool stuff for myself if I dig around Century across the street, Rat's Nest and Sleepy Poet but another option would be great.

^ I will be shocked if he says anything definitive. But it's a good thing to keep the subject out there. Since Charlotte politicians of all stripes treat us like lepers for the most part and those that do need to know that we are a part of this community and won't go away. In a post last week, I said that homophobic comments don't bother me anymore. Well no armor is completely unpierceable. And It's important to pick the right battles strategically. But upon further reflection I still think it's incumbent upon us to call out homophobic speech when we hear it. Regardless if we are party to the conversation or not. I will continue to do so. Dialing back the decibel and content of my response to such incidents needs to be worked on. Looking back on the incident it was a classic case good ole boy bigotry gossping in the barber shop. Just switch out black people and put in gay. And we don't deserve that either. I want to call up "Modern Haircutters" at Park Road Shopping Center and tell them to change their name to "Hateful Haircutters". But I won't. That's over.

The eskimo on the Dairy Queen on Wilkinson is so awesome! It should be given local landmark status on kitsch value alone. There is regional precedent. Charleston placed an permanent easement on the rotating Coburg Cow along Savannah Highway in West Ashely leading to the peninsula. Because so many people got a kick out of it seeing it. The Coburg Dairy offices are long gone from that part of town but the cow is forever!

I have been going to the same barber since I moved here. Followed him from Kenilworth Commons to Latta Pav and the current Modern Hair Cuttters @ Park Rd Shopping Center. I knew the owners were conservative. They had Kaye McGarry stickers and McCrory stickers on the wall. But political differences are just that. And it was not relevant to getting my hair cut. I was always very polite and we got along just fine. Until a few minutes ago. The owner and a customer were talking about how "gays were know to take over certain places in NC, and the guy getting his haircut said the two guys next to him were such a pain and always complaining and that's how we "are". It was all very snide and derogatory in tone. I really tried to block it out at first because the guy I use rents his spot and has always been nice to me and knows I am gay. But these two kept on going on, so I stood up and told them straight people are messy too and they should watch what they say. And that I was never going back there again for a haircut because they were a bunch ( insert curse word) homophobes and I did a grand job of throwing my magazine down and storming out with a door slam. I heard my barber calling after me but I was already across the lot and way too steamed. Too bad though. He is a nice guy but I will not contribute to even the overhead cost of a shop run by phobes. Truth be told, my hair is not that long yet. So I saved some money today. Another truth is that it's continually thinning so I cut it buzzed quite often so it looks neat and not patchy. I have very conventional hair and there is nothing innovative that can be done with it. I just need to find a new place, and maybe they will do an even better job!