Individuals in this undated photograph from a community center planning meeting.

This is the second installment in our new weekly Throwback Thursdays #TBT series. Each week, we’ll pick selected coverage and photos from our archives to feature here.

With so much conversation around the LGBT Community Center of Charlotte this week and after last night’s town hall, we thought it would be a great look into the past to explore the birth of Charlotte’s center.

Long before the center opened its doors in 2001, a large group of community leaders and community members came together in a series of planning meetings and town hall discussions to explore feasibility studies and the community’s needs for a center.

Below are two articles on some of those meetings, followed by several photos from our archives. The photos are undated but were filed along with other photos from 1997-1999. The title on the photo album was “Community Ctr Mtg.” We’ve provided captions and identified individuals where we can. Do you know someone in the photo? Do you know what date or where the photos were taken? Shoot us an email at editor@goqnotes-launch2.newspackstaging.com and help us fill in these details in our archives.

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Longtime community leader John Quillin leads a discussion in this undated photograph from a community center planning meeting.
Longtime community leader John Quillin leads a discussion in this undated photograph from a community center planning meeting.
Longtime community leader and early center board member David Lari, left, and other unidentified individuals discuss ideas in this undated photograph from a community center planning meeting.
L-R: Community leader and early center board member David Lari, Thomas Ludden and realtor Bruce Moyer discuss ideas in this undated photograph from a community center planning meeting.
Gary Spann discusses ideas in this undated photograph from a community center planning meeting.
Gary Spann discusses ideas in this undated photograph from a community center planning meeting.
Individuals in this undated photograph from a community center planning meeting.
Individuals in this undated photograph from a community center planning meeting.
Individuals in this undated photograph from a community center planning meeting.
L-R: An unidentified woman, Gordon Roque, Carl Rollins, Travis [Last name unknown] and Scott O’Con discuss ideas in this undated photograph from a community center planning meeting.
A leader facilitates discussion in this undated photograph from a community center planning meeting.
Naomi Swinton helps facilitate a discussion in this undated photograph from a community center planning meeting.

Thanks to David Lari and Thomas Ludden for assisting in identifying some individuals in these photos.

[Ed. Note — qnotes makes no claims of ownership or copyright on materials not obtained from its or The Front Page’s archives. All such materials are used for editorial and/or educational purposes only; this series is not being directly sponsored by any business or individual. qnotes releases its own protected, archived materials for editorial and/or educational use only, provided re-postings and re-publishings link directly back to this original article and qnotes is cited as the original source. Archived materials cannot be used for commercial purposes without prior, written permission from the publisher or editor. For any other concerns or questions, please contact editor@goqnotes-launch2.newspackstaging.com]

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Matt Comer

Matt Comer previously served as editor from October 2007 through August 2015 and as a staff writer afterward in 2016.