Dueling Southern LGBTQ+ Experiences, Connections and Reflections of Life in Athens

John-Presley Orvin, vice president of Athens Pride and Queer Collective, 27, from Baxley, Georgia, poses for a portrait at Hendershot’s in Athens, Georgia, on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024. He has served the APQC board for three years and recently took on the role of vice president in January 2024. (Photo/Landen Todd)

Athens Pride and Queer Collective, APQC, vice president John-Presley Orvin helps lead the LGBTQ+ community in Athens, Georgia. He is 27 years old and was born and raised in Baxley, Georgia, but had a hard time living in a conservative religious setting in southern Georgia as a gay man.

 “Growing up in southern Georgia was really hard for me,” Orvin said. “It's always been home, but I wanted to move to somewhere a little more open-minded and liberal.”

22-year-old University of Georgia senior Beck Pirkle says their experience in LGBTQ+ Southern culture was much different.

“I grew up in Midtown Atlanta, so that was a really accepting queer area and so I feel like growing up in this bubble that wasn't really reflective of the broader south, but it was cool because I got to grow up super comfortable and not worry that much about what it would mean to be gay or like having a queer identity in the south,” Pirkle said.

Pirkle, grew up in Midtown, Atlanta before moving to Athens to attend UGA as a Geography and International Affairs major.

Beck Pirkle, UGA student, 22, from Atlanta, Georgia, poses for a portrait at Tate Student Center in Athens, Georgia, on Friday, May 3, 2024. Pirkle, grew up in Midtown, Atlanta, before moving to Athens to attend UGA as a Geography and International Affairs major. (Photo/Landen Todd)

For Orvin community was founded in the city of Athens and has lived in Athens for seven years now.

“I felt like coming from a family or a group of people in southern Georgia, who weren't really on my side, versus now having a community like Athens and knowing so many people who are straight, also a part of the LGBTQ community who loved me just for being the person that I am,” Orvin said. “Gives me a lot more confidence and grit when I go back down to South Georgia to not really care what people think.”

LGBTQ+ Experiences 

There are growing challenges for people who identify as or are part of the LGBTQ+ community. LGBTQ+ rights are under attack across the U.S., including Georgia. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, (ACLU), they are tracking 12 anti-LGBTQ bills in Georgia that have at least been introduced. Seven of those are restrictions on student and educator rights.

Meanwhile, a survey from The LGBTQ Institute Southern Survey shows some progress amongst people who identify as part of LGBTQ+ identity. In it, 78% of respondents think their LGBTQ+ identity is something positive in their lives, and 56% consider this identity as important to how they see themselves, according to The LGBTQ Institute Southern Survey. Yet, more than 83% of respondents reported having been subject – a few times or more frequently in their lives – to slurs or jokes because they are, or are perceived to be, LGBTQ+. The 2022 survey is part of a second iteration of the LGBTQ Institute Southern Survey; the first was published in 2018.  The 2022 survey was shorter than the original and only slightly increased participation among people of color.

1,326 LGBTQ adults who completed the LGBTQ Institute Southern Survey live in states including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia and more. In 2017-2018, the LGBTQ Institute at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights partnered with Georgia State University to survey LGBTQ individuals in the South. The LGBTQ Institute worked with 146 nonprofit, community, state and regional organizations to give a voice to LGBTQ Southerners and highlight issues affecting their lives.

Pirkle was happy to hear that most respondents saw their LGBTQ+ identity as something possible.

“That's so awesome,” Pirkle said. “I don't think it surprises me because it does feel really special to be in the South.”

Orvin said he was surprised that 78% of LGBTQ+ Southerners see their identity as something positive.

“I think that we've, as Southern queer people, have come a long way,” he said. It is surprising. I think they were raised in the very similar light that I was raised in it's very conservative and traditional family values and if anyone goes against those values, they're considered wrong”

Orvin’s Experience

 Orvin has served the APQC board for three years and recently took on the role of vice president in January 2024. APQC centers its work on helping the Athens LGBTQ+ community by working with historically marginalized communities through outreach, social connection, education, and events.

As vice president of the APQC, Orvin helps plan the Pride Parade held every June and helps give resources to the LGBTQ+ community including a resource fair at The Classic Center which helps with finding safe places for hormone treatments, gender-affirming undergarments, and gender-affirming clothing stores, along with HIV testing..

Orvin said that other resources include helping with youth groups for trans kids to helping parents maintain healthy relationships with their children along with other coping strategies including common stigmas for LGBTQ+ youth, the APQC handles serious issues.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Some LGBTQ+ people have experienced harm and distress caused by people expressing anti-LGBTQ+ views using hate crimes: threats, verbal abuse, vandalism, and violence. As of 2017, fewer than half of US states offered legal protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation.

“It’s not just always a party for us, it's a lot of other things as well,” Orvin said.

Orvin is dedicated to this work and is passionate about the rights of LGBTQ+ youth as it was a struggle for him growing up. 

“There were a lot of dark times for me, I thought there was something wrong with me,” He said. “Obviously, I thought that I was in the wrong. I wasn't a good enough Christian because I grew up very religious. I thought that this was just growing up in that it was something that we didn't talk about, and I didn't know how to navigate it.”

Beck’s Experience

“I'm non-binary and queer,” Pirkle said. “I think it just means that I don't really fit into either the gender binaries and so I kind of exist outside of that category. Part of it is that I don't really know what it means like it's just like a feeling that I have and I kind of just roll with it. It feels good to identify that way and a lot of my friends and family have been super supportive.”

Pirkle said they know they are very fortunate to have the support in a state that is in the south.

“I do wonder about when I graduate from UGA and everyone kind of disperses where I'll end up and how it'll be like adjusting to a new place in the South because I know that I have been really privileged to have this group around me most of my whole life,” Pirkle said.

I really think it's just finding the right people who are willing to love and care on you and might actually have their best interests,” Orvin said. “I know that's hard to find. But in the end that really does help boost that confidence.”

He believes in remaining positive by advocating and educating others to fight against anti-LGBTQ bills.