Asheville: America's Mountain Melting Pot, Part I

It's New Year's Eve in Asheville, North Carolina. I'm squeezed into Tressa's Downtown Jazz & Blues, a swanky little lesbian-owned club done up right for the holiday. Black and gold balloons hang suspended from the embossed tin ceiling in a net over the dance floor, ready to be dropped at midnight. There's a Champagne fountain gurgling by the front door and a complimentary soul food buffet getting dished out upstairs. On stage, a posse of wickedly adept musicians jams its way through a heady mix of funk, blues and soul.

The dance floor is packed, the steamy heat coming off the writhing horde palpable even from my seat at the bar. Men are grinding against men, women are kissing women. A well-dressed straight couple, somewhere in their seventies, brushes by me, holding hands and laughing. Close on their heels is a magnificent drag queen, resplendent in glitter and sequins, topped by a tiara. The disco ball paints us all in pulsating, swirling colors.

The vibe is warm, welcoming and sexy, much like Asheville itself. For this funky little town that sits cradled in the lap of North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains is one of the country's great multicultural melting pots: a freewheeling, freethinking, live-and-let-live burg where blacks, whites, hippies, yuppies, born-agains, pagans, rednecks, artists, straights and queers of every stripe in the rainbow come together in an improbably blissful blend.

As Derick Boyd, owner of O'Henry's, the state's oldest gay bar, told me: "We're a gay bar, but it's not just gay men and women, it's the queer community and our allies. Every bar you go to here is gay anyway. It doesn't matter. That's what great about Asheville. Nobody cares. And it's in the middle of Republican North Carolina!"

Tar Heel Transgender Transplants

Since before Stonewall, Asheville (also known as A-She-Ville) has been a Mecca for members of the gay community, particularly lesbians. Identified by the U.S. Census as boasting 83 percent more LGBTQ inhabitants than the average American town, Asheville has most recently seen a boom in transgender transplants and is now home to the highest per capita population of transgender folks in the Southeast.

According to local activist Basil Soper, a transgender male, "Asheville is absolutely blazing the trail in the Southeast. Atlanta also has a great community, but when it comes to trans and queer politics, Asheville has that in a lock. We've been doing so much work for so many years to bring being transgender and being queer into the movement. And it's paying off."

In addition to working as a community organizer, Soper is the creator of GlitterBomb!, a celebration for trans people and their friends he tosses the second Saturday of the month at the Underground, a small industrial club located behind O'Henry's. Upward of 100 people show up for it. The club also hosts Total Gold, a high-energy dance party, as well as well-attended drag, kink and bear nights.

Sprinkled throughout the year in Asheville are several LGBTQ events worth planning a visit around. In June, White Party Weekend raises funds for Blue Ridge Pride with two days of festivities. In July, the Blue Ridge Pride Gay 5K & Family Picnic Fun Day is held, followed by Drag Queen Bingo in early August. Come October, Blue Ridge Pride - recognized by CNN in 2012 as one of the world's best - takes over Pack Square Park with 12,000 revelers enjoying music, workshops and children's activities.

Dishing It Out

But Asheville isn't only fabulously LGBTQ-friendly, it's also just plain fabulous. With a population of 85,000, it offers more to do than some cities 10 times its size. Many tourists come simply to munch their way from Market Street to French Broad Avenue. Asheville has gained a well-deserved reputation as a foodie's paradise thanks to eateries like the superb Rhubarb, owned by James Fleer, a three-time finalist for the James Beard "Best Chef in the Southeast" Award.

Tupelo Honey Caf� (currently in the midst of expanding like a Chia Pet with eight locations in the Southeast and more on the way) and the Market Place are both longtime darlings of the local gay community. The latter, a leader in farm-to-table fare, serves a mind-bending charcuterie board of house-made and locally cured meats, pickles and crostini. Asheville is also home to the nation's first "forage to table" tour company. Wild Food Adventures takes people into the mountains to harvest wild edibles, bringing them back to a local restaurant later to feast on what they've gathered.

There are plenty of great gay-owned bistros in Asheville, including casual sandwich spot Loretta's and its whimsical sister, Mayfel's, specializing in Louisiana-inspired cuisine. But the joint that stole my heart is Edna's of Asheville, owned by Tom Cash and Mike Zukoski, who named their business after their beloved pug. One of the LGBTQ populace's favorite places to gather, Edna's welcomes everyone with open arms, from Baptist church groups to the Radical Faeries, who hold meetings there Sunday mornings.

The reasonably priced food is undoubtedly part of Edna's allure. The pastries are baked and the coffee roasted in house; much of the rest of the menu, including the chai and hummus, is locally sourced. But after chatting with Zukoski for an hour, I've got to believe his congenial charm helps fill the seats too. Both he and Cash are community leaders. Zukoski sits on the Blue Ridge Pride board, while his husband is a pastor at the Jesus People Church of Asheville.

Founded just over a year ago, it's the town's only gay church and has already amassed a 50-member congregation. Jesus People holds services Sundays at 10 a.m. in Scandals Nightclub, a legendary establishment known for its drag performances, laser shows and straight owners. Pastries and coffee are served at 9:30, and church members often linger long after worship has ended. For many who live in the hinterlands, it's their weekly dose of LGBTQ camaraderie. For some, it's a supportive space in which to explore their sexuality.

Resource Guide

General Resources
Romantic Asheville LGBTQ Travel Guide

LGBTQ Community Resource Site

Asheville, NC, Official Tourism Site

Western North Carolina Community Health Services

Blue Ridge Pride

Jesus People Church of Asheville

Eat

Rhubarb

Tupelo Honey Caf�

The Market Place

Loretta's Caf� and Mayfel's

Edna's of Asheville