Mr. Catawba Valley Pride Talks Impact of Trump Presidency on the Queer Community
Tim Tenor, the current reigning Mr. Catawba Valley Pride, discusses the heightened fears experienced by the LGBTQIA+ community under Trump’s second term.
Three years ago Tim Tenor was walking down an aisle at Ingles in Morganton when an older man approached, threatening him without any obvious provocation. “He told me that his group didn't just burn the colored folks, they burned the rainbow folks, too,” Tenor recalled. “And that I'd be getting mine pretty soon. It's terrifying because you don't know who people are. You don't know what they believe. You don't know how they feel about certain things. And they're just out and about.”
Since being sworn into office for a second term, President Trump has signed several executive orders targeting the LGBTQIA+ community, those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning/queer, intersex, or asexual. The "+" at the end represents other sexual orientations, gender identities, and expressions that are not specifically included in the acronym, an effort to be as inclusive as possible of the wide range of identities within the LGBTQIA+ community.
Earlier this year, the president issued an executive order barring from military service those who identify as trans and signed another defining sex as strictly binary (male or female) and abandoning recognition of gender identity from federal policies. These executive decrees have been accompanied by a strategy focused on removing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives from across federal agencies and government contractors.
This onslaught of executive orders from President Trump aimed at undoing LGBTQIA+ rights, Tenor believes, is a harbinger of worse things to come. Reflecting on his encounter at Ingles, he said, “It's probably more prone to happen now because when you have leadership that does a lot of things based on hate, the people that follow them are going to look at it and say, ‘Oh well, since this is the leader of our country, it's okay to hate these people.’”
Responsibilities of Being Mr. Catawba Valley Pride
Tenor is the current reigning Mr. Catawba Valley Pride, recently crowned by a nonprofit of the same name dedicated to increasing “public awareness of the LGBT community…to eliminate homophobia, transphobia, and discrimination,” per its website.
Reflecting on his motivations for becoming Mr. Catawba Valley Pride, the Hickory resident said, “I feel that it's important to have that visibility, to get out and speak to people and try to help inform them about what's going on. I see a lack of community in the area and I don't think the current atmosphere is helping that at all. I'm working to foster a better community for everyone. Everyone wants a community to feel safe with, to be open with, and to turn to if they're scared or concerned. So, that was a big part of why I wanted to represent the community. It's not an easy thing to do, but it needs to be done.”
Participating in local outreach is a major responsibility in his new role. He’s not shying away from connecting with young people, either, those worried about their place and safety in a mostly rural region where LGBTQIA+ youth face poorer health outcomes than their straight peers across Appalachia. This includes comparatively higher risks for bullying, victimization, suicide, school violence, and drug use.
He recently addressed OUTright Youth of Catawba Valley, an organization aimed at creating safe spaces and support for LGBTQIA+ youth and their allies.
“I spoke to the kids there just to tell them a little bit about how it was growing up,” he said. “There wasn't any community at all. I grew up between Marion and Spruce Pine and they are not the most LGBTQIA+ friendly locations. I just shared my experience with them and tried to make sure they understood that even if it doesn't seem like it, there is a community to turn to and that they can build community, as well. It’s about trying to build that community and standing up for what we believe in, what we are, who we are as people.”
‘People Are Scared and People Are Angry’
While comprehensive data remains limited, between roughly 3.4 and 4.3 percent of Appalachians identify as LGBTQIA+ according to the Movement Advancement Project, with an estimated 7 percent identifying as gender diverse per a 2022 study. Tenor has witnessed the heightened sense of fear for those living in western North Carolina. Notably, several people declined to be interviewed for this story due to fears for their physical and psychological safety.
“I see a lot of people that are frightened for good reason,” he said. “It’s a very scary thought because the way that everything's rolling out, the way that Trump has taken all of the information for LGBTQIA+ community off the White House website. There has been so much progress made up to this point and it's all being just wiped away.”
Drawing inspiration from his LGBTQIA+ forebears who have wrestled for marriage equality and trans rights for decades, Mr. Catawba Valley Pride asserts now isn’t the time to back down. “It's important that we stand up and make sure that we are heard and that we are not just drowned out and pushed into the background,” he said. “People are scared and people are angry and we can't just stay quiet about it.”
The future remains uncertain. But under Trump’s presidency and the ascendancy of right-wing politicians and influential reactionary voices, he believes things could go south real quick for the LGBTQIA+ community, pointing to the recent controversial deportations of US citizens, undocumented immigrants, and those here on green cards.
“He’s already rounding people up and throwing them out of the country because of othering people,” he said. “And that's what it is. We're being othered. We're not the typical American ideal. So, we're a target.”
‘There Are Good Christians. There Are Bad Christians.’
Given the high percentage of the religiously affiliated living in the foothills, he finds the abundance of preachers and congregants with anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric especially alarming.
“I’ve seen so many posts and videos of preachers and members of the church screaming about the gay community, going on these hateful tangents,” he said. “And one of them was even going to the point that we all needed to be rounded up into camps and slaughtered. If you show by example that you do not care about this community and that you're just going to wipe away everything that we've worked for, there are a lot of people that are going to follow suit and believe that it is okay to enact whatever they see as justice, whatever they see fit to do.”
Tenor, however, is quick to note that he believes religion can also be an empowering force for supporting the LGBTQIA+ community.
“I know the president of Catawba Valley Pride is actually a pastor,” he said. “His church is a gay-affirming church. I know there are a few of those in the area. I think that's important. A lot of my religious experiences have just been painted with hatred and othering. There are good Christians. There are bad Christians. It’s just very baffling to me, to be honest. Your religion teaches you forgiveness, kindness, and service to those who have less than you. And then somehow people can twist that and turn it to vouch for hatred and violence. I still don't get that.”
It pains me to know that these aren't just isolated incidents in Morganton or the mountains.