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Named event or history

LGBTQ political firsts in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, 1980s–1990s

Joe Herzenberg’s election to the Chapel Hill Town Council in 1987, Mike Nelson’s as Carrboro’s mayor in 1995, and the anti-discrimination and domestic-partner measures that followed.

In briefJoe Herzenberg's election to the Chapel Hill Town Council in November 1987 made him North Carolina's first openly gay elected official. Carrboro created a domestic partnership registry in September 1994 and Chapel Hill followed in 1995, and in November 1995 Carrboro elected Mike Nelson, the state's first openly gay mayor.

10 indexed works are connected with this event.

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Joe Herzenberg on North Street, Chapel Hill, 1991
Joe Herzenberg on North Street, Chapel Hill, 1991

Indexed works

Related works found in catalogs and archives across North Carolina. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it.

Oral history interview with Quinton E. Baker, February 23, 2002: interview K-0838, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)

Baker, Quinton E. · 2008 · University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill

Quinton E. Baker, a Black gay man who took part in the Chapel Hill civil rights protests of the 1960s, was interviewed by Chris McGinnis in February 2002. He describes growing up under segregation with little contact with white people, an early awareness of his sexuality, and the way race and sexual identity together shaped his activism as a college student. About two and a half hours; electronic edition from the UNC library, 2008, through Documenting the American South.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the NC Cardinal record: African American gay men -- North Carolina -- Chapel Hill -- Interviews.

NC Cardinal UNC

Oral history interview with Bill Hull, June 21, 2001: interview K-0844, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)

Hull, Bill · 2007 · University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill

Bill Hull (born 1945) talks about life as a gay man in Chapel Hill in a Southern Oral History Program interview recorded June 21, 2001, by Chris McGinnis. Because his brothers were also gay, his own orientation never seemed strange, yet he describes a South where openness could cost a man his livelihood or safety. He recounts coming out as a teenager, his family in Durham, and the bars and social world of gay Chapel Hill. Published online in 2007 in Documenting the American South.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Gay men -- North Carolina -- Chapel Hill -- Interviews.

NC Cardinal UNC

Oral history interview with Cecil W. Wooten, July 16, 2001: interview K-0849, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)

Wooten, Cecil W. · 2007 · University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill

Cecil W. Wooten (born 1945), of the UNC faculty, reflects on growing up in Kinston in eastern North Carolina during the 1940s and 50s and on gay life in Chapel Hill. Recorded July 16, 2001, by Chris McGinnis for the Southern Oral History Program, the interview opens with his early sense of his orientation and moves to the Carolina Gay and Lesbian Association, the gay liberation movement, and gay men's social world in town. Published online in 2007 in Documenting the American South.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the NC Cardinal record: Gay liberation movement -- North Carolina -- Chapel Hill.

NC Cardinal UNC

Oral history interview with Joseph A. Herzenberg, November 1, 2000: interview K-0196, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)

Herzenberg, Joseph A. · 2007 · University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill

Recorded by Chris McGinnis in November 2000, this interview with Joseph A. Herzenberg (1941-2007), a longtime member of the Chapel Hill Town Council, covers his experience as a gay man in a Southern college town. He talks about an accepting family in New Jersey, his political career, gay activism and the gay liberation movement in Chapel Hill, and the town's social life as he knew it. About seventy minutes; electronic edition from the UNC library, 2007, through Documenting the American South.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Gay politicians.

NC Cardinal UNC

Oral history interview with Joe Herzenberg, November 18, 1985: Interview K-0008. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)

Herzenberg, Joseph A. · 2004 · University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill

Joseph A. Herzenberg (1941-2007), later a Chapel Hill Town Council member, was interviewed by Mary Dexter in November 1985 about the Cane Creek reservoir fight. OWASA, the water and sewer utility serving Chapel Hill, proposed damming Cane Creek in rural Orange County, and residents there organized against it. Herzenberg supports the reservoir and discusses the local politics and water-supply questions behind the dispute. About an hour and a half; electronic edition from the UNC library, 2004, through Documenting the American South.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Herzenberg, Joseph A., 1941-2007.

NC Cardinal UNC

Oral history interview with Ian Thomas Palmquist, June 27, 2001 interview K-0848, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007).

Palmquist, Ian Thomas · 2008 · University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill

Ian Thomas Palmquist, interviewed by Chris McGinnis on June 27, 2001 for the Southern Oral History Program, on gay student organizing and political activism in North Carolina. Palmquist starts with his time as an Enloe High School student in Raleigh during the early 1990s, including a 1994 incident over posters at the school around the time he came out, then turns to student groups at Chapel Hill, B-GLAD and the Queer Network for Change, and to Equality NC PAC. One hour twenty-four minutes. Electronic edition 2008.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the NC Cardinal record: Gay liberation movement -- North Carolina -- Chapel Hill.

NC Cardinal UNC
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Rainbow Triangle Oral History Collection,

Duke University · 1998

Oral histories gathered from 1998 by the Rainbow Triangle Oral History Project, begun at Duke in 1996 to document lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender life in the Triangle and central North Carolina. Four linear feet of sound recordings, transcripts, narrator biographies, clippings, correspondence and research files. Narrators and subjects include Joe Herzenberg, the Chapel Hill town council member, and Doris A. Taylor.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the Duke record: Herzenberg, Joseph A., 1941-2007.

Duke

Ellie Kinnaird papers, 1987-2016.

Kinnaird, Ellie (Eleanor G.), 1931- · 1987

Papers of Ellie Kinnaird, born 1931, a North Carolina state senator, spanning 1987 to 2016 and running to roughly 6,400 items across 20.5 linear feet in the Southern Historical Collection at UNC, collection 5356. The papers focus on capital punishment in North Carolina and the campaigns against it, health insurance legislation, voting technology, and the work of women legislators in the General Assembly.

Why this is here: Its title names this subject.

UNC

Michael R. Nelson papers, circa 1890-2012

Nelson, Michael R., 1963- · 1890

Roughly 2,000 items in 6.5 linear feet kept as the papers of Michael R. Nelson, born 1963, dated from about 1890 to 2012, collection 70140 in the Southern Historical Collection at UNC. Topics include politics and government in Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Orange County, campaign paraphernalia, and gay activists and politicians in North Carolina, naming Joseph A. Herzenberg, 1941 to 2007.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Gay politicians.

UNC

Joseph A. Herzenberg papers 1883-2006.

Herzenberg, Joseph A., 1941-2007 · 1883

Twenty linear feet of papers from Joseph A. Herzenberg, 1941 to 2007, about 2,500 items dated 1883 to 2006 in the Southern Historical Collection at UNC, collection 5367. Diaries are among the formats. The work describes a historian and political activist in Chapel Hill, campaign paraphernalia and Democratic Party politics, and gay activists and gay politicians in North Carolina.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Gay politicians.

UNC

In the chronology

Episodes in this history, earliest first. Each has its own page.

Carrboro’s LGBTQ municipal firsts1990 to present · 16 events · From the 1990 equal employment policy and the 1994 domestic partnership ordinance, through Mike Nelson's mayoralty and Lydia Lavelle's, to the 2021 nondiscrimination ordinance: the town acts that made Carrboro a series of firsts.

Other dated events here, earliest first. See these 29 dated events in the chronology →

  1. The Carolina Gay Association forms Students who had met weekly since February 6, 1974, when the Gay Awareness Rap Group first gathered at the Newman Catholic Student Center, won recognition from UNC's Dean of Student Affairs in early September 1974 and took the name Carolina Gay Association. The group met in Craige dormitory and in 1976 sponsored the first Southeastern Gay Conference.Daily Tar Heel, September 10, 1974, p. 1: recognition of the Carolina Gay Association · Also: Lambda (Carolina Gay and Lesbian Association, UNC), October 1, 1984, p. 1
  2. Chapel Hill bars discrimination by sexual or affectional preference in town hiring The Town of Chapel Hill adopted a policy against discriminating by sexual or affectional preference in hiring and employing town workers. Lambda noted in 1978 that it did not reach schoolteachers, housing or public accommodations.Lambda (Carolina Gay and Lesbian Association, UNC), June 1978, p. 6
  3. An Orange County Democratic precinct meeting backs national gay civil rights bills At the Democratic precinct meetings, one Orange County precinct passed a resolution asking North Carolina's congressional delegation to support the gay civil rights bills pending in Congress. Gay and lesbian Democrats introduced it as a first step toward a gay rights plank in the national platform.Lambda (Carolina Gay and Lesbian Association, UNC), April 1980, p. 3
  4. The Orange County Democratic Party endorses civil rights legislation for gay people The county Democratic Party unanimously resolved to support H.R. 2074, which would bar discrimination by sexual orientation in employment, housing and the military, and to seek repeal of North Carolina laws that discriminated by sexual orientation.Lambda (Carolina Gay and Lesbian Association, UNC), June 1981, p. 4
  5. Lesbian and Gay Democrats of North Carolina organize in Chapel Hill About 20 Democratic Party activists from across the state, including precinct officials and past national convention delegates, first met during the North Carolina Gay and Lesbian Conference to form the group, which took a Chapel Hill post office box. At a second meeting on April 17 they agreed not to endorse candidates and to press the state party to bar discrimination against gay people in its delegate selection plan.Lambda (Carolina Gay and Lesbian Association, UNC), May 1983, p. 2
  6. Carrboro Mayor Jim Porto makes a statement against discrimination toward gay men and lesbians In the same pride week, gay and lesbian rights were on the Carrboro Board of Aldermen's agenda for the first time, and the mayor made what a speaker at the Durham march called a strong statement on their behalf.Lambda (Carolina Gay and Lesbian Association, UNC), October 1986, p. 1
  7. Orange County Commissioners chair Don Willhoit signs a proclamation against discrimination toward gay men and lesbians During the Triangle's lesbian and gay pride week, gay and lesbian rights came before the Orange County Board of Commissioners for the first time, and Willhoit, its chair, signed an anti-discrimination week proclamation, as Durham Mayor Wib Gulley did. Lambda reported that religious opponents called for Willhoit's resignation and that he did not back down.Lambda (Carolina Gay and Lesbian Association, UNC), October 1986, p. 1
  8. Joe Herzenberg wins election to the Chapel Hill Town Council Joe Herzenberg placed third in the four-seat Town Council race at the municipal election of November 3, 1987, with 3,308 votes, behind Nancy Preston and Roosevelt Wilkerson, and said he was the first openly gay elected official in the history of North Carolina. He was sworn in at the Council's organizational meeting on December 7, 1987, with his neighbor Lightning Brown administering the oath. People: Joseph A. Herzenberg, Jonathan HowesDigitalNC: The Daily Tar Heel, November 4, 1987, page 1
  9. Mike Nelson loses his first race for the Carrboro Board of Aldermen by 32 votes Nelson first ran for elected office in 1989 and lost his bid for a seat on the Carrboro Board of Aldermen by 32 votes.Search the index · UNC Wilson Special Collections Library: Michael R. Nelson Papers, circa 1890-2012 (#70140)
  10. Carrboro adds sexual orientation to its equal employment opportunity policy The Board of Aldermen unanimously amended the town's personnel ordinance to add sexual orientation to the characteristics protected in its merit principle and equal employment opportunity policy. On November 13, 1990 the Board had written a sexual orientation nondiscrimination clause into a planning grant agreement with the City of Durham and asked for the code amendment to be scheduled. People: Jacquelyn GistTown of Carrboro: Board of Aldermen minutes, December 18, 1990
  11. The Eighth International Conference of Lesbian and Gay Officials meets in Chapel Hill More than 75 openly lesbian and gay elected and appointed officials from across the United States and Canada met at the Carolina Inn for fundraisers, planning sessions and seminars after the 1992 election. Chapel Hill Mayor Ken Broun and Carrboro Mayor Eleanor Kinnaird addressed the conference, and B-GLAD supplied volunteers. People: Ellie KinnairdLambda (Carolina Gay and Lesbian Association, UNC), January 1993, p. 5
  12. Mike Nelson is elected to the Carrboro Board of Aldermen Nelson won a seat on the Carrboro Board of Aldermen in 1993, and as an alderman he championed the domestic partners ordinance the town adopted in 1994.Search the index · UNC Wilson Special Collections Library: Michael R. Nelson Papers, circa 1890-2012 (#70140)
Show all 29 dated events
  1. Joe Herzenberg resigns his seat on the Chapel Hill Town Council Joe Herzenberg gave up his seat on the Chapel Hill Town Council, and Lambda thanked him on its front page for his service and said he would go on working for gay civil rights.Lambda (Carolina Gay and Lesbian Association, UNC), November 1993, p. 6
  2. Carrboro Board of Aldermen adopts a domestic partnership registry The Board voted unanimously to amend the Town Code so that statements of domestic partnership could be filed with the Town Clerk, set the effective date at October 11, 1994, added a $40 registration fee, and extended the financial disclosure required of elected officials to cover their domestic partners. The Board took no action on a third proposal to extend health insurance benefits to domestic partners of town employees. People: Mike Nelson, Jacquelyn Gist, Ellie KinnairdTown of Carrboro: Board of Aldermen minutes, September 13, 1994
  3. Chapel Hill creates a domestic partner registry The Town of Chapel Hill established a domestic partner registry in 1995, the year after Carrboro adopted its own. The Town added sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression to its employment protections in 2004.Town of Chapel Hill: LGBTQ+ History
  4. Carrboro votes to pay for domestic partner coverage in its employee health plan Setting town employee health insurance for fiscal 1995-96, the Board of Aldermen voted that the town would bear any expense of adding coverage for domestic partners to its Kaiser plan, after asking staff on May 23 to find out why the insurer Healthsource did not offer such coverage. The vote was six to one, with Michael Nelson opposed. People: Mike Nelson, Jacquelyn Gist, Ellie KinnairdTown of Carrboro: Board of Aldermen minutes, June 6, 1995
  5. Mike Nelson is elected mayor of Carrboro Michael R. Nelson, then a member of the Carrboro Board of Aldermen, won the mayor's race at the municipal election held on November 7, 1995, becoming the first openly gay mayor elected in North Carolina. The Board approved the Orange County abstract of votes from that election at its meeting of December 5, 1995. People: Mike Nelson, Ellie KinnairdTown of Carrboro: Board of Aldermen minutes, December 5, 1995
  6. Mike Nelson is sworn in as mayor of Carrboro At the Board of Aldermen meeting of December 5, 1995, outgoing mayor Eleanor Kinnaird gave closing remarks and Mayor-elect Michael R. Nelson took the oath of office, along with aldermen-elect Jay Bryan, Hilliard Caldwell and Alex Zaffron. The Board then appointed Diana McDuffee to the alderman seat Nelson vacated. People: Mike Nelson, Ellie Kinnaird, Hilliard Caldwell, Diana McDuffee, Alex ZaffronTown of Carrboro: Board of Aldermen minutes, December 5, 1995
  7. Mayor Mike Nelson proclaims June Lesbian and Gay Pride Month in Carrboro At the Board of Aldermen meeting of June 3, 1997, Mayor Michael Nelson issued a proclamation naming June Lesbian and Gay Pride Month in the Town of Carrboro. People: Mike NelsonTown of Carrboro: Board of Aldermen minutes, June 3, 1997
  8. Orange County votes to extend health benefits to domestic partners At a November 20, 2003, work session, the Orange County commissioners voted unanimously to extend employee health benefits to domestic partners. The county's insurance trust could not add them for January 2004, so the county budgeted the cost in 2004 and coverage for partners of county employees began January 1, 2005.Orange County Board of Commissioners: Minutes, work session, November 20, 2003 (approved March 15, 2004), pp. 7-8
  9. Mike Nelson presides over his last meeting as mayor of Carrboro At the December 6, 2005 meeting the Board of Aldermen approved the November 8 election results, in which Mark Chilton defeated Alex Zaffron for mayor, 1,337 to 776, and outgoing Mayor Michael Nelson gave his parting comments. People: Mark Chilton, Diana McDuffee, Alex ZaffronSearch the index · Town of Carrboro: Board of Aldermen minutes, December 6, 2005
  10. Lydia Lavelle is elected to the Carrboro Board of Aldermen In her first run for office Lavelle led the field of aldermen candidates with 1,656 votes, about 25 percent, ahead of two-term incumbent Joal Hall Broun and Dan Coleman. She lived in the northern part of town Carrboro had recently annexed, and Mayor Mark Chilton read her first-place finish as a sign that voters were ready to move past the annexation fight. People: Joal Hall Broun, Mark ChiltonSearch the index · The Carrboro Citizen: Lavelle wins a seat; Broun, Coleman, Chilton returned to board
  11. Mark Kleinschmidt is elected mayor of Chapel Hill Kleinschmidt won 4,006 votes to Matt Czajkowski's 3,766 with all 21 precincts reporting, succeeding Kevin Foy, who had endorsed him. He was Chapel Hill's first openly gay mayor and the third openly gay man elected mayor in North Carolina, after Mike Nelson in Carrboro. People: Mike NelsonSearch the index · QNotes Carolinas: Openly gay Kleinschmidt is next Chapel Hill mayor
  12. Lydia Lavelle takes office as Carrboro mayor, the first openly lesbian mayor in North Carolina Lydia Lavelle, who ran unopposed for mayor in the fall 2013 election, was sworn in on December 3, 2013 as North Carolina's first openly lesbian mayor. Aldermen Randee Haven-O'Donnell, Sammy Slade and Jacquelyn Gist were sworn in for new terms at the same meeting. People: Lydia Lavelle, Jacquelyn Gist, Randee Haven-O'Donnell, Sammy SladeChapelboro: Carrboro Celebrates NC's 1st Openly-Lesbian Mayor
  13. Same-sex couples begin receiving marriage licenses in Orange County A federal judge struck down North Carolina's ban on same-sex marriage late on Friday, October 10, 2014, by which time the Orange County Register of Deeds office in Hillsborough had closed for the day. The office issued its first licences to same-sex couples when it reopened on Monday, October 13, with Carrboro mayor Lydia Lavelle and Alicia Stemper first in line; the two married at the Carrboro Town Commons on October 25, 2014. People: Lydia LavelleChapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau: Chapel Hill and Carrboro, NC is a great destination for LGBT travelers and weddings
  14. Carrboro Board of Aldermen calls for the repeal of House Bill 2 at a Saturday special meeting Three days after the General Assembly passed and Governor Pat McCrory signed House Bill 2, the Board met in special session and adopted a resolution affirming the dignity of LGBT people, calling for the law's repeal and urging other North Carolina governments to use it as a model, then adopted a second resolution condemning by name the legislators and governor who enacted it. Both passed six to none with Jacquelyn Gist absent, and the Board asked staff to raise the town's rainbow pride flags on March 28. People: Lydia Lavelle, Randee Haven-O'Donnell, Sammy Slade, Damon SeilsTown of Carrboro: Board of Aldermen special meeting minutes, March 26, 2016
  15. Carrboro Town Council adopts a nondiscrimination ordinance covering sexual orientation and gender identity Six weeks after the state's moratorium on local employment and public accommodation ordinances expired on December 1, 2020, the Council unanimously adopted Ordinance No. 10/20-21, adding to Chapter 8 of the Town Code a ban on discrimination in employment and places of public accommodation that covers sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. The ordinance took effect on adoption and cited the town's March 26, 2016 pledge to seek such protections. People: Lydia Lavelle, Jacquelyn Gist, Randee Haven-O'Donnell, Sammy Slade, Barbara Foushee, Damon SeilsTown of Carrboro: Town Council minutes, January 12, 2021
  16. Lydia Lavelle announces she will not seek a fifth term as Carrboro mayor After four terms as mayor and fourteen years in town office, Lavelle said she would not run again, saying that to everything there is a season and that she looked forward to what came next.Search the index · INDY Week: Carrboro Mayor Lydia Lavelle Won't Seek Fifth Term
  17. Carrboro honors Lydia Lavelle as Damon Seils is sworn in as mayor At the council's meeting the town honored Lavelle for her four terms as mayor, and state senator Valerie Foushee administered the oath of office to her successor, Damon Seils. Randee Haven-O'Donnell, Barbara Foushee and Danny Nowell began council terms at the same meeting. People: Valerie Foushee, Randee Haven-O'Donnell, Barbara Foushee, Damon SeilsSearch the index · Chapelboro: Carrboro Town Council Swears In New Mayor, Council Members

Places in this history

Buildings, schools, churches and other sites named in the dated events on this page, the most often named first. The map shows them all.

Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange and OpenStreetMap; town and community pins mark the middle of their mapped buildings.

  • The Carolina Inn University buildings and grounds · Chapel Hill · 1 event here

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Research sources

Resources picked for this event, each with a note on what it holds.

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Records of the time

Collections and databases 7

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Picture: Joe Herzenberg on North Street, Chapel Hill, 1991. Public domain. Photograph by Erik Ose; via Wikimedia Commons

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