I’ve lived in the Charleston area for almost two years now, and it’s funny to me how I still get so excited when my girlfriend and I run into other LGBT folks out and about in the community. Like…. Just the other night, we’re out at this quasi Japanese place and this table full of lesbians amble in and make their way to the cooktop next to us. “Oh my gosh…” my girlfriend whispers, “A whole table of sisters just arrived.” And sure enough…. There they were. And we were even more excited to see that they were actually close to our age. Hmmmm…. Young lesbians in the Holy City. And a whole table full!
Is this silly? Is this ridiculous? Tell me the truth…. Are my girlfriend and I the only ones who do this? (You can be honest…. I can take it!) To get so amped when we see more of “our kind” in this small city, where there are actually way more gay folks than I ever imagined there would be?
There are the obvious vehicles of connection for our community within Charleston proper. The token gay establishments…. Dudley’s, Patrick’s, De Ja Vu. And of course there’s AFFA and the Charleston Social Club for your relational connections. Or simply the Sunday afternoon ritual of hanging out at the end of Folly Beach.
But for the rest of us…. Those of us who seem to rely on those chance meetings out on the town. Those moments when you just happen to look across the restaurant and see another couple. Or when you’re standing in Whole Foods, eyeing the farm-raised salmon, and just happen to notice you’re not the only sister in the house. Or when you’re perusing the racks at Banana Republic and you run into that same girl who always seems to be in there. Well…. Next time that happens to you, give a sister a wave. Smile, maybe even say hi. You could be waving at me and who knows… I may just have to blog about our chance encounter in my next post. Until then….
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That happened to me today. I was at the library and heard a guy talking about chasing after some fella in Myrtle Beach. My first reaction used to be, “I thought I knew all the queens in this town.” But this has happened so much, I’m convinced that there’s a larger gay scene here than we’ll ever know.
My partner and I are known to act this way in our silly little “progressive college town” that has very few visible lesbians. We tend to nudge each other, grin and say ROCK COLLECTORS!!! heh.
(I’m originally from Charleston and my daughter lives there now, as do my brother and my ex and my ex’s family - we visit often but we’re not young anymore. We do, however, drive a Forester with Florida tags so feel free to wave if you see us some day!)
My partner and I were visiting Charleston the week after Labor Day. We’re New Yorkers thinking about moving to The Holy City. One night, we were occupying one of those big, moaning and creaking wooden swings in Waterfront Park. When we got up, a couple rushed over to take their turn on the swing. It was a male couple who smiled and thanked us. My partner and I made small talk with the men before leaving them alone. As we walked away in the dark, we were excited to know that we had made a connection with others like us. To a couple of jaded New Yorkers, there was something sweet and refreshing, like the smell of honeysuckle in the air that night, about that experience.
Hehe.. “rock collectors”.. my partner and I do the exact same thing and whisper to each other look honey.. PLU!! .. “people like us”.
I graduated from cofc in 01 and live in Charlotte now. I ALWAYS got the warm fuzzies when my ‘dar went off in Charleston. Happened more than I thought it would and I am hoping the presence only grows stronger.