Charlotte Pride

[Forrest]

What a gay weekend we have coming up.......Gaga and The White Party are both on the 18th. I am not going to either event. Uh oh, my gay card is going to be revoked I better hide it before the patrol shows up to snatch it away

[uptownboy]

So does anyone have an extra White Party ticket available for a young, strapping, curious lad such as myself?

All my friends say theirs are spoken for. Who do I need to date to get one? Ha.

[Urbanity]

A couple of items of LGBT note for the week and weekend:

Takeover@ Mint - To celebrate the Grand Opening of the Mint and to outreach to LGBT citizens, The MINT museum is hosting a Takeover dance party starting at 10:00 p.m.on Friday with all proceeds from the $10 entrance fee going towards the MINT

Br!ef.- A fund raiser for cystic fibrosis featuring male underwear models is happening Saturday

Pride - Also on Saturday. It's at the NCMF.

Buff Faye's Pride Drag Brunch- At Hartigan's. One of my favorites!

[nonillogical]

I posted in the Southend Living thread but will reiterate here since signage is now up, but a gay club/bar called Marigne (not 100% on the spelling), is opening in the farthest unit of the 1-story building that houses Dharma Lounge and Apostrophe. It will be somewhat Mardi Gras themed, and I'm told that the name is taken from the gay district in New Orleans.

Unrelated, but I wanted a quick recommendation, sorry if its a strange question: My girlfriend's sister is visiting us soon, and is gay but doesn't really have any good social outlets where she lives to meet other lesbians. She wants to go to a bar or club while here. Given her situation, where's the best place to go? She doesn't want to wind up going somewhere with a vast male majority again, which is all the bars in her area. I know of Hartigans but don't know what the crowd is like there, I thought maybe Petras, but I've never been to any of them.

[bchris02]

I posted in the Southend Living thread but will reiterate here since signage is now up, but a gay club/bar called Marigne (not 100% on the spelling), is opening in the farthest unit of the 1-story building that houses Dharma Lounge and Apostrophe. It will be somewhat Mardi Gras themed, and I'm told that the name is taken from the gay district in New Orleans.

Unrelated, but I wanted a quick recommendation, sorry if its a strange question: My girlfriend's sister is visiting us soon, and is gay but doesn't really have any good social outlets where she lives to meet other lesbians. She wants to go to a bar or club while here. Given her situation, where's the best place to go? She doesn't want to wind up going somewhere with a vast male majority again, which is all the bars in her area. I know of Hartigans but don't know what the crowd is like there, I thought maybe Petras, but I've never been to any of them.

I think Hartigans is the lesbian bar.

Most of the gay nightlife in Charlotte is heavily male-centric. Petra's is mostly male, as is Closet, Scropios, 316, Chasers, etc. As far as I know you are pretty much limited to Hartigans.

[southslider]

^Petra's is Lesbian-owned and operated. Wednesday nights feature karaoke and lean Lesbian. But really any night, you will find a mix of men and women.

[bchris02]

^Petra's is Lesbian-owned and operated. Wednesday nights feature karaoke and lean Lesbian. But really any night, you will find a mix of men and women.

Anybody been to the new club Marigny? I was going to go this past weekend but I was sick and couldn't make it. From the pics I've seen it looks quite different than anything else in the market.

[bchris02]

It appears the Closet has closed. I can't say I didn't see that coming. It was pretty much doomed from the start for countless reasons. It was in a horrible location, the cover was too high, the drinks were high, it was nearly always empty unless it was a special night, and the atmosphere was mediocre at best. It had potential I just think the owners made a fatal mistake by charging too much for cover and for drinks when it was a new club with no reputation. To top it off, the music was horrible, random techno that nobody knew and nobody could dance to unless they were on something. Towards the end they made some genuine efforts and improved the music, but it was too little too late.

Edited November 12, 2010 by bchris02

[Urbanity]

I never went but I was never a nightclub type of person either.

[bchris02]

I never went but I was never a nightclub type of person either.

Dance clubs seem to be a hard sell in Charlotte in general. Most people prefer the smaller neighborhood bars. That said, a nightclub done right can work. The one fatal mistake Closet made that doomed it from the beginning was charging a $30 cover New Years Eve (I think $30 was if you bought them early, they were $50 at the door). It had only been open a couple of weeks and had no reputation yet, and when people heard about the cover they went elsewhere. I don't know what the owners were thinking. Needless to say, I was there on New Years Eve and it was nearly completely empty. Closet had a "dead" reputation from that point forward. When CPCC closed off their parking lot and people could no longer find parking at the club, the deal was sealed.

Edited November 12, 2010 by bchris02

[Dilworthy]

Dec 9th @ 7pm Mayor Foxx is holding a public forum at the Community Center. Pathetic that it's almost 2011 and this will mark the first time a clt mayor has specifically addressed the gay community. But hey it's progress!

That said we need a big turnout and tough questions about the stalled DP Benefits effort, including gender identity and expression alongside the recently added sexual orientation clause to the city employee non-discrim and much more. So come out!!

[Urbanity]

White Rabbit in Raleigh has closed leaving Charlotte as their only store. Plans are to move any remaining (Raleigh) merchandise to the Charlotte store and focus on operations here. Apparently the Raleigh store went under because it moved to the new Hue Development which didn't take off and thus they lost most of their foot traffic.

Sort of reminds me of why I wish the Charlotte community center would return to Plaza Midwood. I loved Pride at the NCMF and the complex management has been great to the Center but I just wished the center would return to Charlotte's closest thing to a gayborhood.

[Dilworthy]

I agree about the community center's old locale. The visibility along Central was fantastic. Sigh. Anyway glad WR is still open although more well rounded offerings like Outwrite in ATL would be great, but we don't have the community infrastructure here to support such a hub. At least they took down the speedo mannequin down, for now at least.

Makes the place look porno.

Well if they go under too there is always the lesbian owned Bag Lady here in Dilworth. For when I get rainbow schwag urges. I am an honorable Bag Lady!!

[Dilworthy]

Don't know why but forum with the Mayor had been moved to wednesday the 8th. Same time @ the center from 7 to 8:30.

[Dilworthy]

The meeting with the Mayor last night was a good first step. I believe he is genuinely supportive but not proactive enough. We have to keep pushing to get Council to stop hiding behind the city attys excuses and have a vote on benefits.

As was mentioned last night Jennifer Roberts spearheaded DP Benefits on the county side and was reelected as the top votegetter. The political homophobia has to end and it will if we keep the pressure on.

[Urbanity]

According to the census ACS data, First Ward has the highest percent of (self-reported) unmarried same-sex couples (4%) in the city.

Other notables:

NoDa and area on Park Road notrh of South Park has 3%,

Plaza-Midwood, Westerly Hills, and Fourth Ward has 2%.

http://projects.nytimes.com/census/2010/explorer

[southslider]

^Be careful in using this data to estimate an area's overall gay population. First, it's self-reported. So areas were it is less acceptable to be gay, such as rural areas, are likely under-reported. Second, it's couples. So just as straight couples may give up renting an urban apartment and settle in a suburban home, so do gay couples. All of the trendy hot spots of cities won't necessarily have the highest share of same-sex couples. After all, that's typically where you move when you're young and single.

Of course, it can be fun to compare areas. For example, even visibly gay Provincetown had only 12% self-reporting households. And if some of Charlotte's neighborhoods are even a quarter to a third as gay as P-town, that's impressive. Of course, given caveat #1 (self-reported), it may just mean that Charlotte is a quarter to a third as accepting as P-town. After all, gays are everywhere. And given caveat #2 (couples), gays may move to cities, just like straights, in their single years, but are more likely to settle down in suburbs and small towns, once in a committed relationship.

[hokiehigh]

That is some pretty cool data. I was a little surprised to see that Atlanta/Dallas had greater concentrations than DC/Chicago. It may be b/c they "gay" areas in DC/Chicago are now too expensive for the average person. I would think some areas in Charlotte would have a little more than 4% though.

[15895]

Dance clubs seem to be a hard sell in Charlotte in general. Most people prefer the smaller neighborhood bars. That said, a nightclub done right can work. The one fatal mistake Closet made that doomed it from the beginning was charging a $30 cover New Years Eve (I think $30 was if you bought them early, they were $50 at the door). It had only been open a couple of weeks and had no reputation yet, and when people heard about the cover they went elsewhere. I don't know what the owners were thinking. Needless to say, I was there on New Years Eve and it was nearly completely empty. Closet had a "dead" reputation from that point forward. When CPCC closed off their parking lot and people could no longer find parking at the club, the deal was sealed.

$30?!

Never a chance in hell would I ever go to a club for $30... much less $50....

[Urbanity]

^Be careful in using this data to estimate an area's overall gay population.

I agree completely which is why I mentioned the self-reporting aspect. I think you take any kind of survey like this with a huge grain of salt.

[Dilworthy]

Another reason why I hope White Rabbit stays open is their location near the Salvation Army store. Serves as a diverse counterpoint. While they provide charity the organization is anti-lgbt in management,hiring, and they donate to antigay campaigns.

I make a point of walking far away from the bell ringers. Used to tell them why I refused to donate but now just put on the earbuds and blast away instead.

[Dilworthy]

A great achievement for us yesterday. I followed the cloture and final vote. Truly thought I had lost my mind when I heard "Burr : aye" ! Sens Burr and Hagan did us proud.

Granted Burr jumped aboard after victory was inevitable but a vote is a vote nonetheless. It helped that he just was handily reelected to another term too of course. This vote will do no harm to him longterm. While we are no Massachusetts we aren't Alabama either. Still it was a fantastic surprise did not think we would have bipartisan pro repeal Senate votes.

Made me proud to be in North Carolina!

[Urbanity]

While we are no Massachusetts we aren't Alabama either.

I'll give an amen to both as I have no want to be either!

P.S. I'm a Yankees fan

Edited December 20, 2010 by Urbanity

[Dilworthy]

Also as noted in Politico, NC is urbanizing rapidly and increasingly gaining transplants from the Northeast to Charlotte and the Triangle. Many are moderate to liberal on social issues. The state will only be more so in six years if Burr runs again.

[Dilworthy]

In response to Bill James latest antigay rant GetEqual NC is organizing a response at the Jan,5 commission meeting.

Bring yourself, friends,family,signs, you get the picture.

James will love the attention but it's important to hit back too. Jennifer Roberts intent was well placed but she should have polled the board. And only sent a letter if she got a majority.

I think Roberts overestimates Mecklenburg's level of gay friendliness. We are trending the right way but gay rights are still hotly disagreed upon here by an entrenched antigay wing and guarantee a media firestorm.

OTOH, this is another example of Jennifer Roberts willingnesss to publicly advocate for us and take the heat in return.

Such guts are sorely lacking among many other elected officials who purportedly support us but only at fundraising speeches or in front of gay audiences.

This

Edited December 30, 2010 by Dilworthy