A. Avery Oral History

https://youtu.be/7VCuyGpQHIc

A. Avery is an insider volunteer with Carrollton Rainbow. As an insider, Avery works as the vendor coordinator for Carrollton Pride, and helps plan and host events such as TransConnect. In this oral history, Floyd and Avery discuss Avery's duties as vendor coordinator, how they became involved with Carrollton Rainbow, and Carrollton's wider culture.

If you would like to participate in an oral history with Carrollton Rainbow, complete this interest form.

"I love that it’s helping people decide that things are okay over here in Carrollton"

Transcript

Floyd: Alright. We are now recording. The day is June 10th 2026. My name is Floyd Hurst. I’m here with A. Avery. A. Avery, do I have your consent to record?

Avery: Yes.

Floyd: Alright. Awesome. So I’m interviewing you as part of my internship with Carrollton Rainbow. For the audience, can you give a brief description of what you do for Carrollton Rainbow and your general background? 

Avery: Sure. My position in Carrollton Rainbow is that I am what’s called an “insider.” The insider position is a high level volunteer, and my major role as a high volunteer is to be the vendor coordinator for Carrollton Pride. I started being the vendor coordinator for the 2025 Carrollton Pride. Prior to that, I helped set up pride in 2024, and I participated in the pride in 2023, but I didn’t meet Carrollton Rainbow or become involved in the organization until May or June of 2023. June of 2023 was when I first met everybody. I’ve just progressively taken on more responsibility. Did you want me to talk about what I do as vendor coordinator? 

Floyd: Yes. 

Avery: Okay. So as the vendor coordinator, my responsibility is to review the vendors after they’ve applied to participate in Carrollton Pride, just to make sure that they look like supportive organizations or just vendors that are allies for our community, or members of our community. I wanna screen that to make sure nobody’s getting in that doesn’t belong, or that wants to cause us any harm. Then, after I’ve reviewed them, I’ll send them an email letting them know that their application has been received and they’re going to be able to be a vendor at Carrollton Pride. Then, a little later, I send a “Save the date” email to all the vendors who have submitted requests and been approved, just reminding them what the date is and what time the festival is. Closer to time, I start to send out emails with more pertinent information like what the time they need to be there, how to load in, what time is load out, that kind of stuff. I also created a diagram of the space that we use, the ballroom, the atrium, and the outdoor space, and I find vendors to their booth. I try to make a good mix of nonprofits with people sewing, crafts, and that kind of thing, and also try to make sure that, you know, I don’t put two people selling crochet right next to each other and separate them out. I do take time with that. Some vendors prefer to be outside, so if they requested an outside booth, maybe they’re used to that kind of thing and they already have a 10x10 tent that they want to use, then I put them outside. Otherwise, the inside is first come first serve, so once I run out of inside space, then people get assigned to an outdoor space. It’s been pretty good, and I work alongside Angie Leigh. She’s the volunteer coordinator for pride, so the two of us work together. Also, with the vendor placement, I create a spreadsheet where it goes in alphabetical order by vendor name, and also in table order by vendor name. That way, the volunteers can help the vendors during check in, help them find their table, that kind of thing. 

Floyd: That’s cool. What made you want to be vendor coordinator in particular? 

Avery: Well, I’m very math and science oriented. My brain likes spreadsheets and numbers, that kind of thing. I’m less inclined to want to manage people. I like to manage things. I know that vendors are people, so I’m not trying to make it sound like they’re not. But I’m really good at that kind of- you know- the spreadsheets and the spacial, that kind of thing. That’s kind of like, where my strengths are, and so I would say that I choose that position because I knew my strengths were in that space. I wasn’t fighting anyone else for it, either. I was just kind of like, “I can do this, if you guys want me to,” and they were like, “Yes, please.” I feel like it went really well last year. I think Angie and I make a great team. And then of course, everyone else on the board is supporting and participating as well. But we just kind of managed the big stuff, and then they come in as well. It went really well last year, and I feel good about this coming up year. 

Floyd: Yeah, I’m excited for this coming up year, too. How would you say that pride has grown since you started showing up as a guest versus, when you’re an insider. How would you say that’s grown, and how would you say that support from the community has fluctuated. 

Avery: Well, when I first participated in pride, it was at the ACT Center. I think that’s what that building is called. So it was a smaller area. I think that they had to turn away vendors because they ran out of room. So that area, that room was smaller, and then the [vendors] who were outside, it was like they were in a barn area, you know? So I think that alone, it moved to the University in 2024. So the first year that I participated in 2023, it was just a smaller space, but it was amazing to see, because  they ran out of parking. There were so many people coming. It was very validating to see so many members of the Carrollton Community coming to the pride event. That was really heartwarming, seeing that first year. Being at the University really allows for more vendors, more space for us, so the crowd also was larger. There’s significantly more parking at the University. You also have the students who are there. They do tend to be on break during the first part of October, which is when we have our pride. So, we have potentially missed some student participation, just because they’re out on fall break, but the community showing up for us has grown year over year. Which has been really nice.

Floyd: Yeah. Would you say that now that pride has gotten bigger it has gotten more pushback from the general Carrollton community, or no?

Avery: I don’t really think so. We haven’t had any major issues with people coming to the event and protesting. The University doesn’t push back against us being there, which is nice. I think that us being at the University shields us a little bit from the public, than if we were in a park or in the town square, or something like that. We would probably be more susceptible I think to negativity, because we would be easier to get to. I think that people have to really want to go to the university. So, yeah. So as far as I’m concerned, I haven’t really noticed any pushback. It doesn’t mean that they’re not any, but it hasn;t really been a big part of my participation. 

Floyd: Do you run into any problems in that regard as the vendor coordinator? Like people sending in facetious applications, or anything? 

Avery: No. I have actually not had to turn down any vendor request. I’m scanning them out of an abundance of caution, but there was not anything that triggered me to start doing it. I just did it because I thought that was the right thing to do. 

Floyd: So, how would you describe the relationship between Carrollton Rainbow, particularly the University, particularly the QSA, and also the relationship between Carrollton Rainbow and the wider community, from your perspective as vendor coordinator? 

Avery: To start with the QSA, we did have a lot of student engagement this last year. We had several student groups that wanted to have tables in the ballroom. QSA was one of them. I believe the gender studies program was also there. There were a couple more. I can’t remember the names of all the organizations, but they did request to be situated together. I think there was some overlap between students that were participating in each organization.

Floyd: That makes sense.

Avery: So that was nice to see, that they did put all of their tables together. I also put them right at the front of the ballroom, because I wanted to show respect to the fact that we were at the University. I thought that giving the University vendors prominent placement was a good way to show respect for the fact that the University allowed us to have the event there.

Floyd: That makes sense.

Avery: Yeah. I was involved in meeting with the student team that would be working the event. Like, we met a week or so before the event, just kind of walked through the space that we would be using, and what that would entail as far as how they would set up the tables and stuff. And everyone on that team was really excited and positive about it. I personally don't deal with the rental of the space, or any of that. I don’t really have any firsthand experience of what it’s like to work with the university other than the fact that the student employees were all very outstanding. And then on the day of the event, they were there to set up all of our Audio-visual. We were using monsters in the room to show a slideshow of the schedule of events that day, and then upcoming events that we would be having. And the student employees were great with that. Every time we interacted with them, they were great. That’s really my only experience with the University. With the community at large, I would say that for the most part, we do a really- hold on one second somebody’s at my door. 

Floyd: No problem.

[Interruption]

Avery: Sorry, I got a delivery.

Floyd: No problem. 

Avery: Okay. So we have a good relationship with a lot of the businesses out of the community. We had several that allowed us to hang posters in their windows whenever we’re having an event. There’s a handful that aren’t comfortable displaying our posters, but I would say that we have more businesses that want to participate with us than don’t, so that’s good. And then, we’ve gotten a lot of support from some of the larger industry in the community. The Southwire has been a huge supporter of our organization. They donated for pride, and also for some of our other events, so Southwire’s been a great community partner for us. We’ve also received good donations from other places. Like, I wanna say, the Courtyard Marriott has been a good partner for us. I don’t wanna forget anyone that’s important. We also received a grant from Pride Across the Peach state, which comes from Atlanta Pride. So Atlanta Pride takes grant applications from other organizations throughout the state, and Carrollton Rainbow has gotten that a couple years in a row. I don’t know if it’s been more than two years in a row, but I know for a fact that we got it the last two years. 

Floyd: Awesome. 

Avery: Yeah. So that’s good. So the community at large feels pretty welcoming. Then I would say that, we kind of know which businesses to go to and which businesses to maybe stay away from. I’m not gonna put anybody on blast, but we just kind of know inherently where to go. 

Floyd: How would you say that y’all. Just based on past experiences, and everything?

Avery: Yeah, based on past experience. And if people have had a negative interaction with a business- not just a regular negative one, but in regards to community support- we just kind of stay away. We have also put in place a safe space program with Carrollton Rainbow, and so we’ve had businesses knock down our door requesting to be part of this safe space, so we know that they’re definitely on our side if they’re asking for that. Having that program is a really good way to gauge whether or not a business is going to be welcoming. 

Floyd: Has the general support from local businesses and vendors fluctuated at all in the last few years? Particularly in the second Trump administration.

Avery: I don’t feel like we’ve lost any support that we had. I think that all of the businesses who were supportive of us early on are still supportive of us. As far as like, general community, it almost feels like the people who are for us are fighting even harder for us now, and the people who weren’t fighting for us before are just doing what they were doing before. So I don’t think we've lost support, if anything it’s made those who do support us support us more strongly. 

Floyd: That’s interesting. How would you say that pride and the community and Carrollton Rainbow’s presence in general has had an effect on the community, and what effects can you see from that? 

Avery: I’ve actually heard first hand from some people who have moved to Carrollton from other places, and when they were researching the area, found Carrollton rainbow and it made them feel better about moving to this area. Coming from out of state, they’ve heard mixed things about the state of Georgia. You know, Georgia’s the purple state. You kind of worry if you don’t know anything about the area other than Atlanta, you’re not sure what to expect, and then when they saw that Carrollton Rainbow was active in the area, it made them more willing to move here. Some people were choosing between locations and chose Carrollton because of the presence of Carrollton Rainbow. I’ve also heard of someone who said that their child decided to go to University of West Georgia because of the presence of Carrollton Rainbow. It made them feel safer about being in West Georgia. I think that it’s had a positive impact on the community, and I love that it’s helping people decide that things are okay over here in Carrollton. We didn’t know anything about Carrollton Rainbow. We’ve lived out here in Villa Rica for quite some time, and just happened to see an event on facebook one day. We were like “Oh. We didn’t even know there was a Carrollton Rainbow. We missed many years of pride not realizing that the organization was out there.

Floyd: What effect would you say that Carrollton Rainbow has had on your life, personally? 

Avery: Oh man. On my life, personally. I mean my friend group has expanded significantly. I have so many friends now through Carrollton Rainbow that I never would have met. I mean, we had very few friends out here in West Georgia. We would go to Atlanta, like Midtown area just to be around other gay people. You know, other queer people. And now, it’s like we don’t have to go too far from home to be surrounded by queer people. So it’s been really nice. My weekends stay pretty full, and we also have several times during the week where we’ll meet up. We have the walking club. Couple of Sundays a month we have greenbelt cleanup. One Sunday a month, a bunch of us meet up for trivia once a week if we can. We have Coffee and conversation that meets up. I go to- we have a support group that’s called Transconnect that meets once a month, and I go to that when I can. I travel for work so I’m not always in town, so I do miss some of the weekday events, but they’re happening whether I’m there or not. You know what I mean? Other people are getting together. It’s just kind of a rotating cast of characters, because people have other things, other obligations, sometimes. It’s nice to get to see my friends throughout the week. And there was one other thing. Once a month we do a meetup at a restaurant. Typically it’s a spirit night situation where the restaurant is going to give Carrollton Rainbow a percentage of the proceeds. Not every single time. Sometimes we just go to a restaurant that’s been affirming to us, even if they’re not able to provide Spirit Night funds. So we do that event once a month, which is also nice. It’s a nice way for us to get together. 

Floyd: You sometimes moderate the trans support group, right?

Avery: I’ve moderated it one time. The most recent one, I moderated. Typically it’s moderated by either Riley or Kristen.

Floyd: How did you come to moderate it last time?

Avery: Well, I was available, first of all. The other two moderators were not available. I was in town, and I have been several times, so I understood the general way that the meeting flows, so I volunteered to be the moderator because of that. I don’t know that age makes a difference, necessarily,  because I’m older. It’s like, when the room is full of young people I feel like they’re looking to me. I may be projecting. They might not be looking to me, but you know. When I was young, I looked to older people, so I’m projecting that onto myself from them. I feel like “Okay. I’m the oldest person in the room, so I need to be in charge.” Which is probably not the right way to think about it. It’s more about the fact that I had just been several times, and I understood the flow of the meetings, I think is more than anything else.

Floyd: How is that opportunity to connect with an intergenerational transgender group? 

Avery: It's actually really eye opening, because I am kind of a late in life- it came to me later. I didn’t really fit with either gender, so it’s actually very refreshing, people who have figured themselves out significantly earlier in life than- I don’t consider myself a queer elder, because I didn’t come up through that. I didn’t come up as queer. I am pan, so because I was attracted to men, I kind of suppressed the other attractions, because I wanted to be quote-unquote “Normal.” I’m a late in life nonbinary person, late in life to explore my queer side, and seeing people who are living their truth as younger. You know? They’re just starting younger. They’re gonna live in their truth for decades longer than I ever did, and that’s really refreshing to see. 

Floyd: Has Carrollton Rainbow allowed you to explore your identity more, now that you’re an insider and participating in the pride? 

Avery: I would say yes. Just being in queer spaces more just allows me to feel more like I can be my authentic self. When you’re just walking through life in the world with everyday people, you are, you know, doing your thing and keeping to yourself. Then when you’re in a queer space, you can open up more. You can share more of yourself, and just be more of who you are, and it kind of helps you- the more you’re able to be in that space with yourself, the more you understand about yourself. If that makes sense.

Floyd: That does make sense. So, I’m looking at our time, we’re at 28 minutes, and I’ve walked through all of my questions. Is there anything else that you’d like to mention, or any closing thoughts before we end?

Avery: Just that I hope that our community continues to grow and thrive, and that more people who are alone in West Georgia, who are alone in their queerness, are able to find us, and come and participate, and that we have events that they’re interested in. I also hope that people who have different interests than we’ve had events for, are willing to maybe host events, you know, of their particular interest. Do you know what I mean? So like, if you’re not into coming to walking group but you’d rather have a crochet meeting, you know that maybe you organize a crochet meetup. We’re open to more people joining, we’re open to more people participating, and we’re open to having more events on our calendar.

Floyd: Awesome. Thank  you so much!

Avery: Yeah. 

Floyd: Alright. I’m going to turn off the recording now. Thank you so much for participating. 

Avery: Okay, yeah.