After years of anticipation, Asheville is set to celebrate Pride month with a festival in June, a first in decades. Residents had long desired an event coinciding with the historical significance of the Stonewall Uprising anniversary.
Traditionally, the largest Pride celebration in Asheville, Blue Ridge Pride, takes place in September, leaving some disappointed. But this year, organizer Butch Thompson is answering the call by launching the AVL Stonewall Fest this weekend, featuring three days filled with music, drag shows, and dance parties downtown.
Thompson emphasized the festival’s role in highlighting the significance of Pride amidst increasing political challenges facing transgender rights. “This year, it finally just clicked,” Thompson stated. “Many people were asking for it and the political climate that has been going on in the last couple of years has just really taken a turn. I felt it was important that we really show up.”
In North Carolina, recent legislative actions have included a state law limiting LGBTQ+ discussions in public schools and restrictions on gender-affirming care for transgender youth. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Education is conducting a federal inquiry into Buncombe County’s bathroom policy for transgender students.
“This is not a time to be violent but it’s a very big time to be vocal,” Thompson told BPR. “We need to educate more people about what’s going on within the political system and how we’re, I think, sometimes being used as scapegoats in a lot of ways just to rally up more fear amongst certain people.”
Courtesy of Butch Thompson
The festival draws its name from the 1969 Stonewall Uprising, a pivotal moment in the gay rights movement sparked by patrons of Stonewall Inn resisting a police raid. This led to the first Pride celebration in New York City the following year.
Thompson felt it was crucial to connect Asheville’s celebration to Stonewall as both a festivity and a reminder of the ongoing struggle for equality. “We’re actually going to have a banner where people can write messages about Stonewall,” Thompson explained. “We’ll be reading our Stonewall manifesto that we wrote which is all about taking back control of our voices.”
The festivities kick off on Friday with an opening party at The Radical Hotel, followed by a Stonewall drag show at O.Henry’s. The main event occurs on Saturday from 2-8 p.m. at Asheville Yards, featuring local drag performer Devin Divine as emcee and a performance by Lyric. The weekend concludes on Sunday with a drag show and dance party at Banks Ave.
Thompson hopes the event will foster a sense of belonging and awareness among attendees about Asheville’s LGBTQ community. “We’re trying to be inclusive. We’re trying to give people the opportunity to come out and live their authentic lives and not be hidden in the closet, as we say, because of fear,” he said. “You shouldn’t have to fear who you are.”
