Is Lincolnton North Carolina hostile towards gays and lesbians?

Answer 1

I grew up in Lincolnton and return often to visit family, so I hope I can give a helpful answer. The short answer is that Lincolnton is not the best place to be openly gay/lesbian/bi/trans. There are a few gay people living there, but they are generally not out to a wide community, there is no real community to speak of, and there is open bias to be found in schools, churches, and the media. Many gay people leave or stay closeted, which diminishes visibility, resulting in potentially low levels of perceived bias or hostility. There are many conservative and fundamentalist churches in the area, many of which will try to steer gays into ex-gay groups. But others accept LGB-people grudgingly with a wink and a nod, or leave it as a family issue, not to be spoken of in polite company. I can't say this would extend to trans people, my guess is that they wouldn't handle this too well. There are nearby services and groups in Hickory and Charlotte, so a community is within driving distance. We attempted to post a very neutral, text-only classified ad in the local paper last year to advertise a website for LGBT people in Lincolnton. After a year, we've gotten 5-10 people on an online group (see http://www.geocities.com/lincolnton_lgbt for details). However, the ad was rejected, despite not having any adult language. "This is a family paper" they said. I found the school system to be unapologetically hostile toward gays. Homophobic language was completely tolerated and was the insult of choice throughout my upbringing in the 70's and 80's. While not out at the time, I often witnessed hostile actions and speech targeting an effeminate classmate, and teachers said nothing. This may have changed since, but I doubt it. With these caveats, Lincolnton is a very family-based and faith-based community. They are also seeing change from Immigration. The chief problems in the area are economic. These factors mean that positive reactions from family or neighbors are possible. There are many conservative democrats in the area who may be more open-minded, although they are just as likely to attend anti-gay churches. A few businesses in the downtown area might be somewhat more gay-friendly. I invite you to join the online community and ask questions - you may receive responses from those still living in Lincolnton with a more up-to-date impression of conditions there.