Asheville gay pride
A look at LGBTQ history and Pride Month events across Western North Carolina
June is federally recognized as LBGTQ+ Identity Month. Across Western North Carolina, Pride proclamations and event support have been on many local town government agendas. While some WNC communities are hosting their first-ever Pride events this year, others are looking back on the LGBTQ history in the region.
UNC Asheville Professor Amanda Wray founded the Diverse Oral History Archive with Blue Ridge Pride Center in 2019.
“Asheville has a really inclusive reputation but Appalachia in general has a reputation that is rather negative in the way that (some) chat about inclusivity,” Wray told BPR in 2019.
“I notice like we make homosexual people invisible when we don’t talk about them or when we attention on this dominant narrative that Appalachia is not inclusive.”
Wray, who is from rural Kentucky, has been interviewing LGBTQ people from across the region and has over 100 interviews - most of which are digitized and approachable online on Blue Ridge Ridge Pride or UNCA’s Special Collections websites. The collection also includes physical artifacts, such as books, buttons and T-shirts. The archive
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September 21, 2024
Asheville's Blue Ridge Event Festival celebrates the LGBTQIA2S+ community in Downtown Asheville in Pack Square Park, 11 AM-6 PM. Two stages will feature regional musicians and many talented entertainers. Check out the many vendors and organizations. Find more information on the Blue Ridge Pride's website.
Learn about many great organizations in our collective and country assigned to social justice. Sample delicious goodies from food vendors.
For more info on visiting for the festival or any time of the year, see our Asheville LGBT Tour Guide.
"The mission of Blue Ridge Celebration is to foster an informed, engaged and supportive LGBTQIA2S+ community through intersectional belonging, equity, liberation, and joy operate under our 4 pillars: advocate, honor , educate and serve."
Scandals Nightclub
Since 1982, Asheville's largest high-energy gyrate club is esteemed throughout as the epicenter for creativity, diversity and entertainment. Don't miss their midnight show, premiering the best… read more
Since 1982, Asheville's largest high-en
Photos: Asheville's Blue Ridge Pride Festival 2023
LOCAL
A flag that says "human" flies during the 2023 Cerulean Ridge Pride Precession Sept. 30. Each letter represents a different pride flag.
Will HofmannBuncombe County Commissioner Jasmine Beach-Ferrara speaks to the crowd through a megaphone prior to the 2023 Blue Ridge Pride Precession Sept. 30.
Will HofmannMembers of the Haywood Highway Congregation, a ngo associated with the United Methodist Church, pose for a picture prior to the 2023 Cerulean Ridge Pride Precession Sept. 30.
Will HofmannMembers of Street Creature Puppet Collective march in the 2023 Blue Ridge Event Precession Sept. 30.
Will HofmannTony Crawford, dressed in a rainbow flag Batman costume, poses for a picture prior to the 2023 Sky Ridge Pride Precession Sept. 30.
Will HofmannMembers of the Blitmore United Methodist Church and Wellspring Congregation pose for a picture prior to the 2023 Cobalt Ridge Pride Precession Sept. 30.
Will HofmannMegan Smith poses with a sign during the 2023 Sky Ridge Pride Precession Sept. 30. The sign states "Long live the performative queen."
Will HofmannPride precession attendees gather prior to marching toward Pack
LGBT Asheville
Asheville is a gay-friendly little city. Period.
According to the latest United States census, the Asheville area has 83% more queer woman, gay bisexual, transgender and gay (LGBTQ+) identified people than the typical American city or town. Another study, also based on census results, found that Bun-combe County (with 15.5 same sex couples per 1,000) and Asheville (19.7 per 1,000) are the most gay-friendly county and metropolis in the state of North Carolina, on a per-capita basis well ahead of places favor Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill. In 2010, the gay-oriented publication, The Advocate, ranked Asheville as the “12th gayest capital in America.” Atlanta was ranked #1.
LGBTQ+ visitors increasingly are revealing Asheville, with its great organic beau-ty, innovative dining and drinking spots, heavy-duty gallery, arts and crafts scene, interesting shops and numerous gay-owned or gay-welcoming B&Bs and inns and businesses.
You are likely to see a number of openly lesbian and lgbtq+ couples around town, es-pecially Downtown and in West Asheville.
Downtown Asheville has several LGBTQ+ bars, including O. Henry’s (the oldest