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What It’s Like to Run an LGBT Center Library
Strolling through downtown Raleigh, N.C., you’ll pass right by the LGBT Center of Raleigh if you aren’t looking for it.
There are two ways to gain entrance. One is a door in the wall of the historic Raleigh Furniture Building, which is on East Hargett St., across from the bus station and near the seat of state government. The door leads to an elevator. Take the elevator to the basement, and you’re in.
The other way is the stairs beside the building. Walk down them like you’re going to Sam Malone’s bar in Cheers, and boom! The center moved to this spot (its fourth since starting in 2008) in January 2019, leaving its old home on South Harrington St. when the building was sold to a developer.
There had been talk for years about creating such a resource. Many people had brainstormed and researched and dreamed. What would it look like? How would it function? Where would it be located? How would it be paid for? Raleigh has a thriving gay and transgender community, and the city is mostly welcoming. It is ranked the second best town in North Carolina for LGBT+ families.
As one person put it on a Raleigh subreddit,
“Folks here are Southern enough to wave & Northern enough to stay out of your business.”
