The Roanoke Diversity Center is holding a panel discussion on June 9 that will explore Roanoke’s past and the possibilities for the future through the lens of the LGBTQ community.
Courtesy of Roanoke Diversity Center
The event will start at 7 p.m. on June 9.
June is Pride Month. To help celebrate, the Roanoke Diversity Center is holding a panel discussion on June 9 that will explore Roanoke’s past and the possibilities for the future through the lens of the LGBTQ community.
The panelists include Rev. Joe Cobb and Dr. Samantha Rosenthal.
Cobb is perhaps Roanoke’s most visible member of the LGBTQ community given the fact that he has served on the Roanoke City Council since 2018. He also served as vice mayor for two years.
His personal story aligns with many other members of the community of a certain age. Prior to coming out as a gay man, he was married to a woman. After separating, they co-authored a memoir that examined their journey of marriage, children, coming out, divorce, healing, reconciliation and the creation of a new way of being a family.
In addition to standing at the intersection of politics and sexuality, Cobb found a way to merge his faith and sexuality in 2006 when he was ordained as a clergy in Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC).
“The panel conversation is designed to share some of the history of Pride and the LGBTQ community in Roanoke and the region,” he says. “It’s important for us to share these stories because there is such a rich history. Part of the history includes the challenges LGBTQ people faced historically.”
Some of the challenges Cobb plans to discuss include how member of the community haven’t been able to come out, discrimination, hate and being ostracized by their families.
One of the darkest days in Roanoke LGBTQ history was the Backstreet Cafe shooting that took place in September of 2000. A man named Ronald Gay opened fire in the establishment that was frequented by gay patrons. The shooting resulted in the death of one individual and the injuring of six others.
Despite not having moved to the city until a year later, the day has loomed large in Cobb’s life. At the time, he was still coming out.
“It was a sad way to put Roanoke on the map nationally and internationally, yet it also gave the community the opportunity to say that we don’t condone violence towards anyone. I think it was a turning point,” he says.
Courtesy of Joe Cobb
Roanoke City Council Member Joe Cobb is pictured at a previous local Pride event.
Although it is important to examine the challenges the community has faced, Cobb stresses that it is equally important to celebrate the fact that LGBTQ individuals are now more visible than ever before. “Roanoke has become the kind of city where we can be out and truly call home,” he says.
When considering the future of the local LGBTQ community, Cobb says that a lot of work still needs to be done. He hopes non-profits, businesses and government entities will continue to diversify their leadership teams. Additionally, the city has yet to score 100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s Municipality Equality Index but is actively working to do so.
“We want to be a city that honors the LGBTQ community. We want to be a city that honors people not because of their differences, but because of the unique values and gifts that they bring to the city,” he explains.
While Cobb will be offering a political and spiritual perspective, Rosenthal will bring a historical point of view to the conversation.
As an associate professor of history and the coordinator of the Public History Concentration at Roanoke College, she knows the history of Roanoke’s LGBTQ community well. She even co-founded the Southwest Virginia LGBTQ+ History Project.
Rosenthal says she hopes to highlight the fact that while New York City is often looked to during Pride Month because of the fact that the Stonewall Riots occurred there in 1969, it is also important to look to local LGBTQ history for insight and inspiration.
An important fact about Roanoke LGBTQ history is that the first gay rights group was formed in the city in 1971. The Gay Alliance of the Roanoke Valley (GARV) was composed of mostly white gay men, with some gay women. Meetings were held in the founder’s apartment building in Old Southwest.
That same year, the city’s first gay publication, The Big Lick Gayzette, was published by GARV. It primarily included information related to activism, including writing about the first known gay rights demonstration in the city’s history. The demonstration was held at the Trade Winds because participants felt management of the establishment weren’t protecting them from heterosexual harassers.
GARV folded the following year. The next gay rights group didn’t pop up in the city until 1977.
She stresses that while it is important to celebrate the community’s successes during Pride Month, there are many aspects of the community’s history that should be viewed rather cautiously.
“I think there has been a persistent element of white supremacy in LGBTQ communities and spaces. That’s a part of our past I don’t think we should be proud of. It’s something we need to think about especially in the Black Lives Matter era that we’re in,” she explains.
Courtesy of Gregory Samantha Rosenthal
Dr. Gregory Samantha Rosenthal is the co-founder of the Southwest Virginia LGBTQ+ History Project.
Additionally, her research indicates that there have been tensions locally among the different facets of the community.
“Joe’s election to the city council shows that we’re moving into a period where LGBTQ people are becoming more accepted, but I think we need to be careful not to think that the struggles are over, particularly for LGBTQ communities of color, the trans community and poor LGBTQ people,” she says. “We need to be aware that not everyone has achieved equality.”
The free event will start at 7 p.m. Those interested in attending can either do so by stopping by the center’s Campbell Avenue location or via a Zoom link that can be found on the website here.
The panel discussion isn’t the only Pride event going on locally this month.
The history project will be holding the following events:
- A special Pride Month edition of its Old Southwest Tour on June 20
- Queer Community Potluck Picnic in conjunction with No Justice No Peace-Roanoke and Southerners on New Ground-Roanoke at the Stone Shelter in Wasena Park
- The center will also be holding the following events:
- Rainbow Run on June 9, 16, 23 and 30 in person at Olde Salem Brewing Company or virtual
- Pride at the Park on June 24 at the Salem Red Sox
- Roanoke Diversity Center Gala on June 28 at The River and Rail
About the Author:
Aila Boyd is an educator and journalist who resides in Roanoke. She holds an MFA in Writing from Lindenwood University.