The interview for this piece quite a while ago and I forgot about it, but it’s published today in anticipation of NC Pride on Saturday. I spoke to GayCities contributor Barbara Wilcox to discuss where to hang out in Durham during Pride and what it’s like here in the Bull City. A snippet:

Where do you hang in Durham?

During Pride, the best place to hang out is Ninth Street, which has a good number of local eateries – Blue Corn Cafe, Elmo’s Diner, Parizade, and many others. Also nearby is the Brightleaf Square area, which also fills up with LGBTs who are there for the day – Nikos, Alivia’s, The Federal, James Joyce (bar), Piazza Italia. Kate and I are big fans of Mount Fuji.

What don’t out-of-towners know about NC that they should?

That when you come to Pride, you’ll see more people than you’d imagine, that the atmosphere is laid back, and folks don’t feel they have to be closeted in Durham. Now drive 30 miles in any direction…LOL. But honestly, Kate and I have never encountered overt anti-gay bias in any part of the state. I think the idea that if you travel to the South you’ll have the same negative reception in all parts of the region is a mistaken one. The other side of the coin is that while there are plenty of LGBTs down here, we don’t have a real organized community outside of the club scene, as in an LGBT center. But as far as the state goes, it’s more culturally diverse than many imagine, because so many people move here from other parts of the country and their cultures with them. That is one of the biggest changes I’ve seen since I was a child.

The photo was taken in front of Foster’s Market a few years ago; it’s a must-see homey eatery. Order the tarragon chicken salad sandwich and bag a yummy scone to take home.

Oh btw, the intro to this piece is hysterical. Money quote:

You need not lean as far left as Pam to admire the glee with which she calls the anti-gay Liberty Counsel’s Matt Barber a “pantload”-or hauls out her “tiny violin” for MassResistance’s failed war on marriage equality.

Speaking of Pride, the forecast for Saturday is 40%-60% chance of rain, so if meltable folks from outside of the Triangle decide to bag it and stay home, turnout will be a bit lower — but it’s their loss; they’ll miss my kick-ass keynote even if I have to deliver it from under an umbrella to 10 people, lololol. I’m still tinkering with it as I post this, slicing and dicing. I figure if I can’t deliver it for some reason, I can send it out over the Internets…

More below the fold.

No, hopefully the string of luck NC Pride has will hold out and we’ll have a break in the clouds for the parade, which starts at 1PM, and the entertainment and speeches. I saw NC Pride organizer John Short this AM and he said it’s happening rain or shine.

Operation Save America’s Flip Benham already said he’s not coming, so that’s one fundie to cross off, but deranged pastor and Blend reader Billy Ball of Primrose, Georgia’s Faith Baptist Church is scheduled to grace us with his presence.

***

This morning I attended a breakfast panel session of the Discover North Carolina IGLTA Travel Symposium, sponsored by the Chapel Hill-Orange County Visitors Bureau. Held at the Sheraton Chapel Hill, the focus was “Getting to know Chapel Hill from the LGBT leaders and citizens.” Targeted to travel professionals who came from around the country, it’s a chance to show off Durham’s progressive neighbor just a stone’s throw to the west.

I shot some footage of the speakers that is quite interesting because they give you a well-rounded view of what the state has to offer for not only LGBT tourists, but people who are relocating and thinking about moving South, since Research Triangle Park and the many universities and medical facilities make it a very liveable area with a decent cost of living. For LGBTs, it’s critical to know the law of the land here regarding what rights we have here, which ones we don’t, and what it’s like in terms of LGBT community life here.

The panel would have been even more interesting had I not been a dunce and inadvertently deleted the portion that included Lydia E. Lavelle, who serves on the Carrboro Board of Aldermen and teaches “Sexual Identity and the Law” at North Carolina Central University School of Law. I managed not to delete the comments of four other panelists (I only have three here; the fourth video needs some editing).

First up was Sharon Thompson, who is the go-to attorney in family law and handles domestic partnership and second-parent adoption issues. She does a great summary of the progress and the problems in the state in terms of legal rulings.

Mark Kleinschmidt was up next. He’s a member of the Chapel Hill Town Council and one of nine openly gay North Carolinians to be elected in state history. He’s also a Chapel Hill mayoral candidate this year and will be a grand marshall at the parade on Saturday.

Ian Palmquist, the executive director of Equality NC, gave a great report on the state of legislative progress on our issues; North Carolina had a bumper crop of great action in the General Assembly, including passage of an anti-bullying bill and a bill that would provide life-saving comprehensive sex education (NC had abstinence-only, often fact-free education prior to this).