Gay In Augusta

I recently received an email from a reader inquiring about LGBT friendly areas in the CSRA. While, unfortunately, we don’t have anything like Midtown Atlanta to claim as our own, we should encourage and support those areas that are open and accepting. What parts of Augusta have you found to be LGBT friendly?

Here’s where you can help… our community isn’t going to grow unless more LGBT people move here and/or come out and become active in the community. Any information you can contribute would be SUPER helpful.

• What neighborhoods would you recommend as gay friendly?
• What apt./condo complexes would you recommend?
• What businesses, companies, and retailers have you had positive experiences with?

Leave your comments and encourage others to do the same. Thanks for helping build this resource for people inquiring about our area!

About halfway through this interview with the Argos Angels, one of the entertainers says something that sums up why I started this site.

In Augusta, you can’t walk around the streets and be gay, but in Atlanta … you can be you. You can be yourself. You can be gay. But in Augusta, you can be gay…in your house…or at a club.

Read the rest of this entry »

I did not grow up in Augusta. I moved here fairly recently after living an openly gay life since coming out in high school. After living here only a couple of weeks, I knew my life was going to be very different. I decided it best to wait a while to feel things out at work. After only a couple of weeks, I had seen anti-gay petitions, overheard very hateful conversations, and been asked way too many times why I wasn’t married. For the first time in my life, I felt pushed into the closet – both at work and in public.

Since then I’ve found welcoming friends and some welcoming communities, but this still very much a closeted and oppressive city. I hope this site can reach out to those who haven’t found a welcoming community or don’t have friends they can talk to. I hope the site can bring you news, information, and stories that speak to you in some way.

I know very few people who live openly in Augusta. I applaud their bravery and their commitment to stand up for themselves and those of us who have a lot to lose. I hope that as the CSRA and our country begin affirming the equality that we all deserve, that we no longer have to live closeted lives for fear of violence or hostility.

If you have news or stories to share, please email editor@gayinaugusta.com. Feel free to be anonymous, use a pseudonym, or use all or part of your name. This site will never out anyone or any community; if you or your business or your group wishes to name itself here as a friend or a resource, you are welcomed and encouraged.

The Editor

Welcome to GayInAugusta.com. Stay tuned as we get the site up and running.

We will be encouraging others to submit their own stories, experiences, and opinions on being gay in Augusta, either by registering or submitting to editor@gayinaugusta.com. The more voices we have, the better.

We hope the site will be a resource for the gay community in Augusta – entertaining, informative, and inspiring.

Stay tuned…