CHARLOTTE — Volunteers with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Community Center of Charlotte are making headway on landmark mural on Central Ave. The project, “Our Lives, Our Culture, Our Time,” focuses on a message of love, equality and peace, and is meant to bring awareness to the local LGBT community.
Painters, including lead artist Gil Croy, began painting on the side of the White Rabbit building at 920 Central Ave. on June 30, just days after the anniversary of the historic 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City, largely credited as launching the modern-day LGBT civil rights movement.
Volunteers have painted about three-fourths of their project on one of three walls. A second wall is nearly half complete. The storefront has yet to be painted.
The mural’s location was selected for its significance within the local LGBT community. White Rabbit is the only LGBT-specific bookstore in the state. The building also houses the offices of this newspaper. Organizers say that the mural’s presence on Central Ave. will highlight Plaza Midwood and surrounding areas known for their LGBT-inclusive and friendly atmosphere and high concentration of LGBT residents and small business owners.
The project should be completed by the time the city’s annual Pride Charlotte Festival and the Democratic National Convention set up shop in late August and early September.
Fundraiser slated
The LGBT Community Center of Charlotte and White Rabbit will host a fundraiser for the mural project this Saturday, July 21, 7 p.m., at Plaza Midwood’s Petra’s, 1919 Commonwealth Ave. Already funded in part by a grant from the Charlotte Lesbian and Gay Fund, the money raised on Saturday will be used to complete the project. For more information or to make donations online, visit gaycharlotte.com.
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Bad editing… Not once do they define what ‘LGBT’ means. How do you use an acronym in the title and 8 times in the article and not show what it means?
“LGBT” stands for “lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender.” QNotes primarily serves LGBT readers and those who are familiar with the LGBT community and LGBT issues. Apologies for any confusion. Our style guide has simply used “LGBT.” Thanks for raising this concern; as we have more non-LGBT readers today than we have in the past, we’ll take another look at our style guide.
Thanks,
Matt Comer, editor
I’m fully supportive of the LBGT community – but that’s just an ugly mural.
Further proof that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Not my thing either but I think it’s great that a bland wall has become a focal point.
The pictures here don’t do it justice. My son and I have been out on two afternoons to paint and show our support for the LGBT community. There are still a few weeks to go to complete the painting, but even now, seeing it in person is simply breathtaking!