“We have a stated goal that is to like help people become more free and free each other.”įergerson said the bookstore is one of the reasons why Candler Park is an LGBTQ friendly community in Atlanta. “Part of what we are trying to do is push the very best things, the most thought-provoking things, the things that can help move and expand their consciousness,” Anderson said. The bookstore, that’s been open since 1974, is the oldest independent feminist bookstore in the southeast, and its nonprofit, Charis Circle, works with activists, artists and authors. Anderson, executive director of the nonprofit Charis Circle, said. “Charis was one of the only places in Atlanta to buy lesbian and gay books,” E.R. “We all have something that binds us together.”Ītlanta is also home to a network of business and organizations that are allies within the LGBTQ community, such as Charis Books And More at 1189 Euclid Ave NE. “For me, there is this sense of shared belonging and shared responsibility for one another,” she said. She said the organization is like a family.
Over the course of about 16 years, Fergerson went from being a Pride volunteer in 2002 to serving as executive director for APC, a nonprofit that was formed in 1991 as the Atlanta Lesbian and Gay Pride Committee. Instead of a couple hundred people, there’s a couple hundred thousand people.” “We have certainly changed quite a bit over the last 48 years,” Fergerson said. This weekend will be the 48th Annual Atlanta Pride Festival and Parade. Since then, Atlanta Pride has evolved into a multifaceted festival and parade that features events that empower the LGBTQ community, such as The Annual Trans March and The Annual Dyke March that started in 1983.