By: Vaughan Stout
Athens will remain a safe haven for LGBTQ members facing continuous pressures under political and social uncertainty. The Athens Safe Haven Resolution passed on Dec. 3, 2024, which battles anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and promotes ant-discrimination policies. While two out of ten Athens-Clarke commissioners opposed, the resolution declares Athens a Safe Haven for the LGBTQ community and promises that the city will defend its queer populace legally and socially.
The Athens-Clarke County City Hall, as photographed next to a local directory. (Photo / Vaughan Stout)
The Athens-Clarke County Mayor and Commission proposed the bill, citing a nationwide “rise in legislation and social attitudes that threaten the rights, safety, and dignity LGBTQIA+individuals.” Dozens of community members voiced their support of the resolution, and echoes of that support still ring today.
Community members like Ida Barrett, board member of the Athens Pride and Queer Collective, believe in the resolution’s mission to protect the queer community. “This wonderful place is on their side,” said Barrett.
She believes that community is important and that being quiet won’t make things better. To her, it takes a strong voice, combined effort and queer joy to protect LGBTQ+ rights.
“Joy is resistance.” – Barrett
Why It’s Newsworthy:
The Athens Safe Haven Resolution aims to protect sexual orientation and gender identity With state and federal legislators actively targeting LGBTQ+ rights, community perceptions of LGBTQ+ advocacy are important.
Community Reception / APQC
The Athens Pride and Queer Collective logo as seen on their website, created by Athenian illustrator Beaux Xavier (they/them), 2022. (Illustration / Beaux Xavier)
Barrett, the director of community outreach at the Athens Pride and Queer Collective, feels the Athens Safe Haven Resolution is a major step forward for the community. The APQC is a local-involvement-centered non-profit that focuses on engaging with and supporting the queer community in Athens. Barrett is delighted by the outpouring of support for the resolution.
“It was really, really incredible to see the support from the community at those meetings where individuals showed up in support of it and spoke in support of it, and we didn’t have to ask them to do that. So that was really, really incredible to just see that outpouring of love from the Athens Community,” said Barrett.
Barrett is a member of the LGBTQ+ community herself, and she feels as if the resolution will allow those that are either attending Athens for college (the University of Georgia) or that are unfamiliar with Athens as a whole will have more reason to stay. She believes LGBTQ+ individuals can “find community” or “find solace with that knowledge that this is somewhere that they can build a life” and a “bigger community”.
What is the Athens Safe Haven Resolution?
The resolution is a formal promise from the city to actively oppose anti-LGBTQ+ legislation introduced in the Georgia Assembly and Senate, as well as urge Georgia legislators to promote anti-discrimination policies. The resolution restates and reaffirms the city’s efforts to ensure Athens is a welcoming, officially labeled “safe haven” for LGBTQ+ by combating ongoing harmful legislation on the local, state and federal levels as well as strengthening and introducing pro-LGBTQ+ programs.
It also aims to renew the goals of the renamed People and Belonging Department, reaffirm efforts to prioritize diversity and inclusion, uphold Athens’ Non-Discrimination Ordinance, support LGBTQ+ events and programs, and encourage public safety officials and law enforcement to undergo proper sensitivity training. The final call to action in the resolution required a copy of the resolution be sent to Georgia Senators, State Representatives, and Gov. Brian Kemp himself.
Community Reception / Siren Antoinette
Siren Antoinette takes the stage in Athens most weekends to perform with a local drag troupe called the Athens Showgirl Cabaret. Antoinette, who lives in Duluth, recently came out as transgender two years ago, and has had a long journey with queerness.
Being transgender, Antoinette is upset and disappointed with the presidential administration’s efforts to deprioritize the LGBTQ+ community.
But when Antionette comes to Athens, she is taken aback. Not only by the welcoming queer environment when she performs, but also by the Athens Safe Haven Resolution.
“It’s awesome…that they’re looking out for us,” said Antionette.
Current Opposition
Two days after the presidential inauguration, President Donald Trump has already rolled back DEI initiatives that protect workplace diversity. Additionally, The President issued many executive orders, some of which aim to ban transgender identification in the U.S. as well as ban transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports.
Recently, transgenderism (and the LGBTQ+ community as a whole) has become quite prevalent in the news cycle. Although it is a topic that generates discourse, the transgender community is a legally vulnerable minority of individuals.
While making up around 0.6% of the U.S. population (and around 1% of U.S. population being nonbinary), non-gender-conforming individuals have been socially and violently targeted for their perceived otherness.
For the 2024 election cycle, politicians spent around $200 million of anti-transgender and pro-Project 2025 ads. These sentiments and their adjacent legislative actions aim to restrict or ban gender-affirming healthcare and gender nonconformity.
Athens / Georgia LGBTQ+ History
A UGA Pride Alliance pin provided at the UGA Spring Engagement Fair on Jan. 28, 2025. The UGA Pride Alliance is the University of Georgia’s first LGBTQ+ student organization, which has aimed to educate and support queer students since 1971.
Athens, as well as the University of Georgia, has a history of protecting and advocating for the rights of the queer community. The University of Georgia’s Special Collections Library contains an extensive history of LGBTQ+ allegiance in Athens. LGBTQ+ organizations emerged as early as 1971 with the Committee of Gay Education, which led to the formation of the UGA Pride Alliance.
Years after the formation of the Committee of Gay Education, the Georgia Supreme Court Ruling in 1998 overturned Georgia’s anti-sodomy law. The law was often targeted towards the homosexual community to outlaw same-sex intercourse.
Then in 2015, same-sex marriage was made legal in the entirety of the United States.
Anti-LGBTQ+ in 2025 / Why the Resolution is Important Now
The figure depicts the number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills in various stages of progress being tracked through the United States, with data provided by the American Civil Liberties Union. (Graphic / Vaughan Stout))
The American Civil Liberties Union, the nation’s leader in civil liberty protection and advocacy, has tracked 456 anti-LGBTQ+ bills in various stages of progress as of Feb. 26, 2025 (and nearly 600 as of Apr. 23, 2025). That is nearly as many as the record high 533 anti-LGBTQ+ bills tracked last year, a staggering 450% increase since 2020.
49 of the bills tracked in 2024 were passed into law. Georgia only contributed a mere 2.5% of the total bills being tracked last year, all of which were defeated before being written into law.
Though most of the bills didn’t pass into law in 2024, as of Apr. 29, 2025 11 anti-LGBTQ+ bills are advancing to the next stage, and 2 have been passed into law. With this surge in anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in the U.S., it is important to reflect on not only the legal attacks on the queer community, but the physical attacks as well.
The figure depicts the monthly number of recorded sexual orientation motivated hate crimes committed from 2015 to 2023 in the United States, using data reported from the FBI. (Graphic / Vaughan Stout)
FBI crime data reveals that anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes have increased steadily since 2015, with an exponential increase since June of 2020. Nationwide, there were 213 LGBT-directed hate crimes reported in June 2023 alone, which is nearly as much as every month in 2016 combined.
The Path Forward in the Athens Safe Haven
One of the many rainbow crosswalks installed in Downtown Athens following the APQC’s Rainbow Crosswalk Initiative of 2019 and the Athens-Clarke County’s East Clayton Street Improvements Project of 2022.
Athens has fostered a diverse LGBTQ+ community. The city, many of its programs, many of its businesses and much of its community provide, protect, and support the queer community. With a variety of queer programs, legislation, organizations and accessibility to gender-affirming care, Athens maintains a diverse environment.
Through the Athens Safe Haven Resolution, the city can serve as an example of the importance of queer support and acceptance.
LGBTQ+ stickers on the storefront of 3 Ravens Tattoo & Piercings, a popular local tattoo and body modification shop in downtown Athens. The shop supports LGBTQ+ individuals, and they demonstrated their support with their float in the 2024 Athens Pride Parade. (Photo / Vaughan Stout)
“Our most powerful tool for any individual is your voice. It’s advocating for yourself. It’s advocating for your family. It’s advocating for your friends. It’s advocating for your larger community. And I think that’s the only way you can find the other voices that are screaming,” said Barrett.