Gay Charlotte - Natalie - Day 8

We decided to start the day off right with some bonding games, specifically 20 Questions. Each of us gathered around and wrote a famous person or character’s name on a piece of paper and then gave it to the next person who put the paper on their forehead for everyone else to see. They then have to guess who their person is – think the scene in Inglourious Bastards, minus the threat of imminent death.

We discovered, throughout the course of several rounds of this game, that both Blake and Drew are horribly untalented at keeping who everyone else has a secret. Some might think that this would deter us from playing, but it did not cease to amuse us every time. I think half the reason we chose to continue playing is just to test and see if either of them would spill the beans.

Around 4 p.m., after plentiful group bonding time, we headed to Time Out Youth, a center for LGBTQ youth ages 13 to 23. We hung out with a bunch of the teens there and even bought ankle bracelets from a girl named Jay who is working to raise money for her partner’s transition.

Shane showed us a bunch of pictures of the stage makeup she had been practicing for her theatre classes and a young boy with a very strong southern accent introduced us all into the world of staged wrestling. It was sure an enlightening day.

 

We headed back to the LGBT Center to say goodbye to O’Neale.

Later in the evening we were invited to participate in Time Out Youth’s weekly discussion time. There was no set topic for the evening, so we explained why we had each come to Charlotte and members of the organization shared their ideas about Amendment 1, prejudices and intersectionality. 

 One man in particular really brought all of the Amendment 1 talk together for us. He told us about the love he has for his partner and the risk of it being taken away now that the amendment has passed. It was so incredibly moving that, as cheesy as it sounds, it gave me hope that sometime in the future people are going to realize that love is love and we shouldn’t mess with it.

Some of the group at Time Out Youth.

We were invited out to dinner at a diner called Lupie’s after the discussion and I got the chance to talk with Silo and Jordan, two particularly amazing individuals who allowed me to talk to them about transgender and queer issues present in society today. I truly appreciate the fact that they were willing to educate me about issues that I didn’t know much about previously.

Again, the generosity and kindness of the people here in Charlotte is unsurpassed from anywhere I have ever been. Thank you to all of the people that have helped make our trip worthwhile so far!

-Natalie Parker