Skip to content
Orange County Public Library (opens the library’s website in a new tab)

Theme

LGBTQ+ Life & Activism

Activism, oral histories, and elected firsts: how gay and lesbian residents built a visible community in Chapel Hill and Carrboro.

In briefGay and lesbian residents built a visible community in Chapel Hill and Carrboro from the 1970s, and the towns elected some of the state’s first openly gay officials in the 1980s and 1990s, Joe Herzenberg and Mike Nelson among them. The records here are oral histories, activism and those municipal firsts.

41 indexed works are connected with this theme. 4 held at OCPL →

Search these works Research sources View indexed works ↓
Joseph Herzenberg on North Street, Chapel Hill, 1991, by Erik Ose.

Indexed works

Related works found in catalogs and archives across North Carolina, the most widely held first, novels aside. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it.

Narrow these works. Each link opens the search already limited to this theme. Counts are indexed works, not copies on a shelf; a work can carry more than one period or place.

Material

Biography 9Histories 7Interviews 6Periodicals 5Fiction 4other types 3

Period

19th century 420th century 5

Place

North Carolina (statewide) 25Chapel Hill 21Orange County 6City of Durham (neighboring) 3Carrboro 2Cane Creek 1

Widely held

Jane Crow: The Life of Pauli Murray

Rosenberg, Rosalind · 2017

Rosalind Rosenberg's 2017 biography of Pauli Murray (1910-1985), lawyer, poet and Episcopal priest, raised in Durham. Its six parts follow a Southern childhood, the move to New York, the 1938 application to the University of North Carolina that was refused because Murray was Black (the chapter is titled 'Members of your race are not admitted'), law school and the coining of the phrase Jane Crow, the Cold War years, the push toward 'an NAACP for women', and a late-life ordination. 494 pages with portraits.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the NC Cardinal record: Murray, Pauli, 1910-1985.

Reviewed in The Journal of Southern History (2018).

✓ Held at OCPL · BIO MURRAY ROS Duke NC Cardinal Durham Chapel Hill PL

Lightning Brown papers,

Brown, Lightning · 1983

Papers of Lightning Brown, a Chapel Hill activist for gay rights who was also the first openly gay person in North Carolina to run for public office. Most of the 1,500 items concern the 1984 elections: letters to and from public officials, articles and studies reflecting his work in the Democratic Party, on national legislation and on gay rights.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the Duke record: Gay rights -- United States.

Duke

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) Center of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill records, 1975-2014.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) Center · 1975

Records of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Center at UNC, 1975 to 2014, about 900 items in 2 linear feet, in the University Archives at UNC, collection 40433. Student groups represented include the Carolina Gay and Lesbian Association, B-GLAD, and the Women's Forum of the Association of Women Students, with student housing at Chapel Hill also covered.

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

UNC

William Ruthrauff Amberson papers, 1919-1968; 1971

Amberson, William Ruthrauff, 1894- · 1915

William Ruthrauff Amberson, born 1894, left papers spanning 1919 to 1968 with a small run from 1971. The papers concern the University of Tennessee at Memphis and southern farm politics: the Southern Tenant Farmers' Union, the Delta Cooperative Farm and Providence Plantation in Mississippi, the Socialist Party, and figures such as Norman Thomas, Howard Kester and Pauli Murray. Part of the Southern Historical Collection at UNC, collection 3862.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Murray, Pauli, 1910-1985.

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 people.

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 people.

UNC
Show 1 more

John Seelye papers,

Seelye, John · 1862

Papers of John Seelye (1931 to 2015), literary scholar and Penguin Classics editor, who taught American literature at Berkeley, Connecticut, UNC Chapel Hill, Dartmouth and Florida. The 26,100 items (46.7 linear feet) run from 1862 to 2015, mostly 1955 to 2007, in series of correspondence and contracts, academic files, research files, writings and personal papers, with Melville and Mark Twain among his subjects.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the Duke record: Lesbians -- United States -- History -- 19th century.

Duke

Recently indexed: Gay youth in the Triangle (1994) · A radical queer ABC Book : told unapologetically, with a focus on radical, political history within the USA and a bias towards recorded events which leads to an unintention exclusion of the communities most marginalized (2022) · Rainbow Triangle Oral History Collection, (1998) · The Triangle : LGBT resource for the Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill area. (2013) · Aluminate : LGBTQ Center publication.

Search all 41 indexed works →

In the chronology

Storylines in this theme, earliest first. Each has its own page.

LGBTQ political firsts in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, 1980s–1990s1987–1995 · 21 events · Joe 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. Carrboro’s LGBTQ municipal firsts1990 to present · 15 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.

Dated events connected with this theme: sixteen of 34, the highlights and a sample of the rest spread across the years, in date order. See all 34 dated events in the chronology →

Earliest first. Scroll sideways, or use the arrows.

16 dated events

  1. The Pegasus, a gay bar, operates in the former Cave on West Franklin Street

    Founding or opening · 452 1/2 West Franklin Street (basement under the Record and Tape Center), Chapel Hill

    In 1972 the basement bar once called the Cave, under the Record and Tape Center near Carrboro, ran as the Pegasus, a gay bar with a jukebox and a back room for dancing. A letter in the Daily Tar Heel called it defunct by February 1973.

  2. Joe Herzenberg wins election to the Chapel Hill Town Council

    Appointment, election or service · Chapel Hill

    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.

    Part of LGBTQ political firsts in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, 1980s–1990s · 21 events

    People: Joseph A. Herzenberg · Jonathan Howes

  3. Jacquelyn Gist is sworn in as a Carrboro alderman

    Appointment, election or service · Carrboro

    Robin Lackey administered the oath of office to alderman-elect Jacquelyn Gist at the Board of Aldermen meeting of December 5, 1989. The board had approved the abstract of votes cast at the November 7, 1989 election earlier in the same meeting, at which Eleanor Kinnaird was also sworn in as mayor.

    People: Ellie Kinnaird

  4. Baptist conventions disassociate from Binkley

    Closing or ending · Chapel Hill

    State and Southern conventions acted after the church licensed an openly gay ministerial candidate.

  5. Perry Deane Young speaks at Chapel Hill High School after gay-authored books are pulled from a reading list

    Publication, speech or performance · Chapel Hill High School

    After four gay- and lesbian-authored books were pulled from an English teacher’s multicultural reading list at Chapel Hill High School, Young and author Susan Johnson spoke at an evening program there and joined a panel. The Orange Lesbian and Gay Association and Many Voices, One Community sponsored it.

    People: Mike Nelson

    Subject: Chapel Hill High School

  6. Carrboro votes to pay for domestic partner coverage in its employee health plan

    Law, policy or court · Carrboro

    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 Kinnaird

  7. Mike Nelson is sworn in as mayor of Carrboro

    Appointment, election or service · 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

  8. Mayor Mike Nelson proclaims June Lesbian and Gay Pride Month in Carrboro

    Naming or commemoration · 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 Nelson

  9. Orange County votes to extend health benefits to domestic partners

    Law, policy or court · Countywide

    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.

  10. Mike Nelson serves on the Orange County Board of Commissioners

    Appointment, election or service · Orange County

    Nelson placed third of seven candidates in the May 2, 2006 primary for three county commissioner seats and went on the November ballot; his papers date his service as a commissioner to 2006 through 2009.

  11. Mark Kleinschmidt is elected mayor of Chapel Hill

    Appointment, election or service · 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.

    Part of LGBTQ political firsts in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, 1980s–1990s · 21 events

    People: Mike Nelson

  12. Mark Chilton wins the register of deeds primary on a same-sex marriage pledge

    Appointment, election or service · Orange County

    Chilton took just over 42 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary, beating the incumbent register of deeds, Deborah Brooks, and a second challenger. He had campaigned on a promise to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples despite the state ban, and because no Republican filed, the primary settled the office.

  13. Mark Kleinschmidt leaves the Chapel Hill mayor's office

    Appointment, election or service · Chapel Hill

    Kleinschmidt served as mayor from his election in November 2009 until 2015.

  14. Mark Kleinschmidt is elected Orange County clerk of superior court

    Appointment, election or service · Hillsborough

    Kleinschmidt was first elected clerk of superior court in 2018 and has held the office since. The state judicial branch says that in the post he has worked to strengthen court services and the administration of guardianship matters.

  15. Lydia Lavelle announces she will not seek a fifth term as Carrboro mayor

    Appointment, election or service · Carrboro

    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.

    Part of Carrboro’s LGBTQ municipal firsts · 15 events

  16. Orange County's clerk of superior court is honored for work in guardianship law

    Award or honor · Orange County

    Kleinschmidt received the Isabella Award at the National Probate Judges Conference for his contributions to guardianship and probate law. The award is named for judge Isabella Horton Grant and goes to people whose leadership improves guardianship laws, court administration and practice.

Places in this theme

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.

All places and the county map →

Research sources

Background context 3

Background from selected state and local sources

Search beyond the index 8

Other catalogs, databases, and guides worth searching

  • NC LIVE: DigitalNC NC LIVE Lambda, the Carolina Gay and Lesbian Association’s newsletter, digitized from the university library
  • NC LIVE: JSTOR NC LIVE Scholarship on LGBTQ history in the South and on the university
  • NC LIVE: Sociology Database NC LIVE Research on LGBTQ communities and municipal politics
  • NC LIVE: US Newsstream NC LIVE Newspaper coverage of the Chapel Hill and Carrboro political firsts from the 1980s on
Show all 8

Additional research sources

Other catalogs to search and local organizations that can help.

Related themes

UNC & Campus Life →Schools & Education →Politics & Government →Women's Lives & History →Black Life & Civil Rights →

Picture: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Image credits →

More to discover

Keep Reading Local

The Friends connect people with new library materials, local writers and publishers, and resources documenting Orange County.

Browse New Arrivals → Meet Local Authors → Explore Local Publishers →
Two mice reading back to back against a leaf, with the hand-lettered words Friends of the Orange County Public Library
Illustration by Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell, gifted to the Friends 2026