One of the organizers of Asheville’s Stonewall events writes about why the spirit of a riot 45 years ago is still needed in Asheville today.
Above: A pride rally in Asheville, early 2000s.
Why is Stonewall important? And why should Asheville commemorate the event as it truly was?
That is, as a hot summer’s night riot when economically-challenged folks of color and very different gender identities had just had enough.
Much of what has changed with Asheville’s Stonewall over the past decade certainly reflects many of the shifts the city has gone through. This event and its origins often get swallowed in the corporatized prides that we see around the country.
Many cities, including our own, shift the celebration to a more temperate and tractable month, such as October. Ironically, Blue Ridge Pride is a result of the debate over Stonewall; it was formed partly as a reaction from some community members who wanted a more polished event.
Many Prides feature product placement and brand recognition seems to be the main emphasis. I doubt that many lgbtqq2ia individuals who attend or organize these pride events have an eloquent analysis of their feelings and motives around being legitimized as a people when major corporations are pandering after their demographic.
Ironically, this has effectively pushed the very people who actually started the modern day movement to the margins. Black gay pride events have arisen in many major metropolitan areas. While these festivities are dynamic, and help celebrate the totality of one’s identity and culture, the need for these events indicates that these qualities were not acknowledged and valued by the extant prides. Certainly if a demographic is not feeling accepted and leaves, it points to underlying issues that are not addressed by the leadership of the group they left. The race divide in general in Asheville is startling, at best, and it seems no different in lbtqq2ia organizations.
Another example of this is the sidelining of gender-variant people. This can be seen during the March on Washington for GLBT Rights events that have occurred over the past three decades. Drag queens were asked not to march by heteronormative GLBT folks who felt that it was the wrong image for the media. Much the same happened when the Human Rights Campaign agreed to drop gender identity from Employment Non Discrimination Act, or ENDA legislation after having publicly committed to the transgender community that they would stand by inclusion, no matter what.
Perhaps the hardest hit are those challenged by socioeconomic and mental health issues. With the high rates of stigma, familial shunning, and suicide our people can not afford to turn our backs on each other. Certainly as society progresses we see less of these types of tragedies occurring, but the fact is that they still do. When people are recognized by how well they can blend into the fabric of society, and what they have in their purses or wallets, rather than the substance of who they are and what they think, we have a problem, a problem few like to address head on.
This actually echoes a lot of the changes we have seen in Asheville, which seems to be evolving from an enclave of free thinkers, artists, and small business folks who were creating community, to a commodified Asheville Concept City.
Some changes are good, others are three corporate grocery stores in a row.
LGBT individuals in Asheville still face considerably more dire obstacles in some arenas, and when you cross the line out of Asheville proper, these often can loom much larger. As an at-will employment state almost anyone can be let go from their job, at any time, with no reason. This is an issue, but even finding a job when one is perceived as LGBT in the first place can be a larger one.
There are few protections in housing either. Some local homeless shelters still discriminate against transgender people, forcing them to house with gender populations that are not safe for them. Bullying still goes on in our schools and institutes of higher learning. Non-traditionally gendered people still suffer in our emergency rooms and get denied health care at many offices and clinics based on their presentation and/or particular medical needs.
There is, to put it mildly, still some work to be done, and we could use a bit of this the spirit of Stonewall that showed its power 45 years ago.
Asheville’s Stonewall has undergone various permutations. In the early years, there were un-permitted parades through down town and warehouse parties in what is now the gentrifying River Arts District.
Gradually, we evolved to permitted side walk parades (hiring off-duty police as required), which incidentally curtailed the fundraising aspect of the event. The funds we raise generally go to support incarcerated glbtq individuals who suffer from higher rates of imprisonment due to economic marginalization and profiling, as well as fundraising for community members in need of healthcare. The vast majority of these medical needs are not covered by private insurance or, as of yet, by what’s offered under the Affordable Care Act.
At this point the parade doesn’t even happen. The rally doesn’t either. The after-parties have changed as well. Warehouse space became completely unavailable, most of our friends and supporters were visual artists or bands who rented spaces but were pushed out due to rising rents. At that same time the Asheville Community Resource Center, or AC/RC, was another venue that we utilized. Ultimately the rising rents and neighboring business’ displeasure with a portion of the demographic using the space forced the group from existence as well. This left us with booking traditional night clubs. By far the best in terms of donating space was the Joli Rouge, which sadly exited the Asheville scene.
Some of the gay bars in town could be rather predatory in their practices with regards to renting the space or collecting a portion of the proceeds from the door, but O’Henry’s, our current after-party space, has always come through with gracious generosity.
A large number of local down town businesses have supported the event through the donation of goods and services for the yearly raffle; the acknowledgement and support have been powerful in this regard. Local nonprofits have always participated and shared information on their resources with the community. Speakers from the Asheville area have always informed and empowered attendees.
We adapt, and despite the work still remaining, find joy within ourselves by celebrating who we are.
While the Stonewall Commemoration event educates, points out disparities, and harkens back to a time of protest seemingly gone by, it has its own riotous nature.
Those original rioters and demonstrators of forty-five years ago had tongue-in-cheek humor and a stubborn refusal to be ignored. We try to echo that in the creativity of the events Tranzmission curates. When paired with the frolicsome, innovative performers and attendees of Asheville today we still, as a community and as a group, thrive.
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Zed Chris helped found the group Tranzmission on a porch just north of downtown Asheville in April 2001 and welcomes everyone to attend this weekend’s Stonewall events
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