Welcoming WNC Virtual LGBTQ Community Center
We are launching a series of welcoming directories: groups, community services, health care providers, speakers, companies.
Does Your Group or Organization Roll Out the Welcome Mat?
Join Us!
Community News
Local Businesses Invited to Take Part in September Strength in Pride Art Walk
The Blue Ridge Pride Business Alliance is partnering with photographer Lauren Merrell and Youth OUTRight to bring local businesses a unique opportunity. They are invited to become a Strength in Pride Art Walk Exhibitor for the month of September. It is a chance to stimulate foot traffic, educate the public, and support a local non-profit that serves LGBTQ youth.
Memorial Service for Ron Lambe, a memoirist for the WNC LGBTQ Community
We lost a pillar of the community during pride month. Ron Lambe, age 85, of Ashville, NC died on June 14 at the VA Hospice in Asheville NC.
Why is Pride in September in Asheville? A Historic Perspective.
June is Pride Month, a time when we all gather, in person this year! Shouldn’t it also be the time when we have our in-person Pride festival? After all, all the big cities have their pride festivals in June: New York, New Orleans, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Bend, Oregon – okay, so maybe other smaller cities, too. Well, it is
It’s Time to Give OUT!
Give OUT Day is a month-long fundraising campaign beginning June 1 and culminating on June 30, the only national giving event for the LGBTQ+ community. Since 2013, Give OUT Day has helped hundreds of LGBTQ+ nonprofits raise millions of dollars! Donations during all of Pride Month count toward prizes for the organization: thousands in additional dollars that go to the
Our Vision
Two years ago, we looked at 150 LGBTQ centers around the country. Most, we realized, were built around a brick-and-mortar community center. That may work in big cites, but what about rural communities? LGBTQ people (and other minorities) who live in rural areas suffer a double isolation. They are isolated by social stigma and by geography.
Next, we looked around western North Carolina. While the news is often dominated by bigots, the fact is, we are brimming with people, businesses, and organizations who strive to be welcoming. How to bring them to light and give them voice? How to help our community to find them? Our community is also home to the highest per capita concentration of non-profits. How to help them connect to the communities they wish to serve?
- Community News: If you have an announcement or news item that you consider worthy of community interest, email the story and picture to vctrnews@blueridgepride.org. [Note: We will decide what to post. Contact us if you have questions. We are new to community-based postings. As we learn more about community preferences, we will publish more specific guidelines.]
- Directory Listings: To add a listing, you need simply be logged in. Register, Confirm your email, and Login.
- Calendar: You must be approved to make calendar entries. After logging in, request to be a Contributor. We reserve the right to approve, edit, and delete calendar submissions. Please don't spam the calendar with events and activities of little relevance to our community. There are plenty of other calendars out there!
- Build Our Welcoming Community. Our immediate priority is to build our listings. We want our community to know just how much support and good will there is.
- Training. OK, so we aspire to be welcoming and equitable. But we're not there yet. That's OK. It's hard work. As we build our directories of welcoming speakers, trainers, and resources, we plan to shift attention to getting all you loving people to sharpen your game by securing training, coaching and other tools from our community partners.
- More Directories & Services: In the fall, we plan to launch additional listings: job postings and help wanted; welcoming resources, welcoming workshops. We also hope to open up some of the tools we use to manage our own organization to other 501c3s in the area (e.g., volunteer openings, event signups, event registration).
- Welcoming Pages: Our eventual goal is to present the entire virtual center as a portfolio of welcoming pages. Examples include: Welcoming Schools & Youth, Welcoming Faith & Spirit, Welcoming Work & Commerce. [You get the idea.] Every event, news item, and listing is being coded to support these future pages.
- Sign Up. Add your welcoming group, company or organization to one of our listings.
- Share. Make liberal use of the share buttons at the top of each page. Let your friends know.
- Become a Community Ambassador. Our immediate priority is to build our listings. We want our community to know just how much support and good will there is. We are eager to enlist Community Ambassadors all over western North Carolina, volunteers who can build participation in the virtual center within their county, town, or organization. (Visit our volunteer page and apply.)
- Donate. Our goal is to make this service free to the community. We're starting the venture on a wing and a prayer. We hope that listers who can afford a donation will do so. If you can, kick in even a few dollars and let us know your zip code.
- Join Our Team. To make this a reality, we will need writers, graphics artists, and community leaders. We need volunteer leaders who want to build and manage this center. Our ultimate vision is to have Welcoming Pages that are curated by members of the community. Visit our volunteer page. Look at current openings or let us know of your interests.
- Give Feedback. Be Patient. We have peppered the site with feedback buttons. Let us know what's confusing or missing. Give us ideas for future rollouts. But please remember: we are a volunteer-driven organization. We manage this site around our day jobs!
A community-maintained calendar of meetings, events, and activities – all of which are welcoming and relevant to LGBTQ and allied communities. Where appropriate, listings are tagged for LGBTQ audiences that would find them of particular interest.
- Includes: Entertainment, Fun, Social Justice Events, Workshops, Seminars, Support Group Meetings, Group Outings & Activities, Fundraisers & Networking Events
- Who Should List Here? We welcome any listings that are welcoming of and relevant to the LGBTQ and allied communities. Events that target the general public are welcome, so long as they bear relevance.
- Inclusion & Intersectionality. While this calendar is focused on the LGBTQ community, we have included tags for events relevant to the BIPOC community, to Spanish-speakers, and to people with differing abilities. If there is sufficient interest, we will create pages devoted to such groups.
- What Should Not Be Listed Here? Businesses and venues: please don’t spam this site with every event you have. There are plenty of other directories for that. Help us to keep this content relevant.
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A local news center driven by contributions from community organizations, especially non-profits who focus on serving the WNC LGBTQ Community.
- Includes: Announcements, News Items, New Resources & Links, Calls to Action, Editorials, Community Profiles.
- Join Us. We want to grow an editorial board and staff of volunteer contributors (writers, artists, photographers, videographers). If you are interested, please fill out this form. You can also look for specific volunteer openings.
This is a listing of welcoming businesses, artists, and service providers – just about any business, large or small, that seeks to contribute to a welcoming community.
- Who should list here? Just about anyone offering products, services and employment: Doctors, lawyers, artists, DRAG queens, realtors, therapists, restaurants, hotels, manufacturers, banks, and accountants.
- Next Steps. This directory includes a LOT of categories. As the list grows, we will create pages dedicated to specific categories (e.g., Health & Wellness; Dining & Entertainment, Real Estate, Home Owner Services).
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This is a listing of groups the people might join for a variety of reasons: support, fun, networking, service.
This is a listing of groups the people might join for a variety of reasons: support, fun, networking, service. - Who Should List Here? Support and empowerment groups, groups with a shared interest or hobby, networking groups, supper clubs, sports teams, community service groups and civic organizations, activist groups. We welcome groups that don’t focus on the the LGBTQ community but who welcome us.
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This directory is focused on organizations that provide service and support to those in need.
This directory is focused on organizations that provide service and support to those in need. - Who Should List Here? Emergency Support, Hotlines, Health & Wellness Providers to the Needy, Legal Aid, Counseling & Recovery, Career Advancement, Community Centers, Social & Recreational Programs.
- Who Should Not List Here:
- For-profit businesses providing similar services at market rates should list in our Welcoming Businesses directory.
- Groups that are more focused on shared activities than on providing a specific service, should list in our directory of welcoming groups.
- Categories: We examined community services across the country to develop a list of the most common community services. We ask each listing organization to identify the service categories it offers and, where appropriate, the audience it is focused on serving.
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Yes, there are spiritual communities and leaders who teach hate and who set themselves upon a pedestal. But there are a lot of faith communities who humbly welcome without judgment or condition. Seek them out!
- Who Should List Here? Churches, Synagogues, Mosques, Temples, Spiritual Centers, Retreat Centers – anyone who welcomes people equally, regardless of their gender identity, sexual orientation, race, nationality or background.
- Who Should Not List Here?
- If you have an LGBTQ group that is part of a larger organization, list the organization here, and the group under Welcoming Groups.
- If your faith community welcomes LGBTQ people but doesn’t acknowledge and celebrate their LGBTQ identity, please do not list here. We respect your right to your beliefs, but this directory is here for community members who seek welcome.
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Some of us may like to think that we are equitable and welcoming, but let’s be honest: we could all sharpen our game. And, even if you happen to be perfect, chances are your colleagues and friends could use a little help. We have created this directory to enable those with a gift for fostering equity and inclusion to reach their audience – and to make it easier for organizations and individuals to find resources to help them grow.
Some of us may like to think that we are equitable and welcoming, but let’s be honest: we could all sharpen our game. And, even if you happen to be perfect, chances are your colleagues and friends could use a little help. We have created this directory to enable those with a gift for fostering equity and inclusion to reach their audience – and to make it easier for organizations and individuals to find resources to help them grow.- Who Should List Here? Public Speakers, Storytellers, Poets, Trainers, Coaches, Team-Builders and Facilitators who – in some way – help their clients and audiences to become more equitable and welcoming. This could include anything from equity audits to storytellers who share revealing moments of humanity and grace.
- Who Should Not List Here? If you do not have services and content that explicitly address equity and inclusion, please use our directory of Welcoming Businesses instead.
- We want to emphasize that these listings encompass far more than creating a welcome for the LGBTQ community. We need to learn how to root out systemic discrimination and inequity based on race, religion, national origin, and differing abilities.
- We offer these listings but play no role in managing engagements and contacts. Nor do we receive any compensation.
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Listers must affirm “the right of everyone to live as their authentic self, without fear of discrimination” and that they welcome all who come in good will. They may list certain restrictions. However, these must be listed explicitly for everyone to see. [Examples: A bar event might be only for people 21 and over. A support group might be limited to people with relevant background.]