What goes on in a queen’s world?
Squeezed into a closet-sized bathroom in the small apartment they share, drag queens Venus Wyre and Moxxxie Hexxx search through a hundred brushes and containers of makeup as they prepare for a lip-sync battle at Chasers, a local gay bar in Charlotte. Their home is highlighted in pink and neon. A blue wig is pinned…
Charlotte’s LGBTQ+ community: then and now
The story of LGBTQ+ life in Charlotte is a mixture of quiet beginnings, clandestine spaces, resilience, survival and eventual visibility. It was shaped by local courage as much as it was by national change. In the 1950s, queer life in Charlotte existed largely undercover. Across the United States, sexuality other than hetero was criminalized, pathologized…
JD Mazuera Arias: a story of community
Four months into his first term on Charlotte City Council, JD Mazuera Arias is still adjusting to the role and the expectations that come with it. The work moves quickly, the volume of information is constant and the stakes are often immediate. “It’s like drinking from a fire hose,” he said, describing the early months…
Charlotte Pride Job Fair coming up February 19 in First Ward
The year’s annual Charlotte Pride Job Fair takes place February 19 at UNC Charlotte’s Dubois Center in First Ward. The event connects job seekers with welcoming employers from across the Queen City in a central venue, easily accessible on foot or via public transportation. The fair begins at 10 a.m. and continues through 2 p.m. …
Prominent Carolina LGBTQ+ community member dies unexpectedly
A prominent Charlotte Metro area LGBTQ+ community member, Quandrico Rutledge-Wade, 50, was found deceased at his home on January 29. After several attempts to reach him by phone went unanswered, family members visited his residence, reportedly two days after his death. Public records list an address for Rutledge-Wade in nearby Lancaster, South Carolina. According to…
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