Locals and visitors heard multiple perspectives on the lived experience of LGBTQ+ citizens at the Eureka Springs Diversity Festival’s panel discussion on Saturday, April 5.

The panel featured five locals – Bryan Manire, Steve Beacham, Kim Stryker, Rigdon Irvin and Martina Lee – who shared the joys and trials of being LGBTQ+ in Eureka Springs. The longest resident on the panel, Beacham talked about meeting his longtime partner, Gary Eagan, when he moved to the city in 1979.

Eagan owned Spring Street Pottery, one of the first galleries in Eureka Springs. He spent 33 years with Beacham before his death in 2011. Eagan was an important part of the hippie movement in Eureka Springs, Beacham said. They met when Beacham was on vacation.

“I went to his pottery shop and threw a cup and a mug and Gary said, ‘People don’t really do that the first time they sit at a wheel,’” Beacham remembered. “We got to talking and I ended up staying, and I’ve been here ever since.”

Each panelist shared a similar story about finding Eureka Springs, visiting the area frequently before deciding to move here. Manire visited his sister, Stryker visited with her family during childhood, Irvin visited for the diversity events and Lee visited in search of a more welcoming community.

Lee grew up in Harrison and moved to Eureka Springs last September, becoming the first resident of the Safe to Be home. Lee described the Safe to Be community as a place “for the LGBTQ+ people who are looking for a better environment to find peace, joy and love.” A trans woman, Lee began her transition seven years ago.

“The home has brought me more peace and love than I can even explain,” she said. “I started my transition somewhere else, and I’m ending it here.”

Irvin started his transition in Eureka Springs 10 years ago. It was a little overwhelming at first, Irvin said.

“But once I was a year into it, I got more involved in things,” Irvin said. “Now, I’m more involved in the community.”

Manire said he and his husband have found that same sense of community in Eureka Springs. A pioneer in the LGBTQ+ activist community, Manire said he was fired from his job at the Springdale School District in 1992 solely for being gay. He worked to overturn the Arkansas law banning sodomy and, more recently, took an active role in getting Eureka Springs Ordinance 2223 passed.

The ordinance added legal protections for the LGBTQ+ community – including sexual orientation, gender expression and gender identity – and was approved by 72 percent of the voters. Stryker recalled working with Manire and other locals to get the ordinance passed, saying it was “more of a dogfight” than anyone expected.

“Aren’t you all tree-hugging hippies who love each other?” Stryker remembered thinking at the time. “Wow. No.”

One defining moment, Stryker said, is when the First United Methodist Church was kicked out of the Celebrate Jesus Parade. Stryker said the church wasn’t included in the parade “because we didn’t pray to the right God or we prayed to the wrong God or something like that.”

“Our banner was offensive, which simply said, ‘Jesus loves all,’” Stryker said. “That was offensive enough to get kicked out of the parade.” The day of the parade, Stryker gathered with fellow Methodist church members on a deck that was offered to them.

“Just as the parade started, allies came from all over Eureka Springs and stood around us. We were surrounded … by allies as the Jesus parade came by spewing something less than, ‘Love your neighbor,’” Stryker said. “We felt that silent sense … of protection.”

Manire agreed. “There are enough of us that you feel like you’re always part of something and you always have friends who would understand,” Manire said. “That’s a wonderful part of living in a small town with a big LGBTQ+ population.”

The non-discrimination ordinance isn’t the first time Eureka Springs has been at the forefront of the movement for LGBTQ+ acceptance. Beacham said the city was one of the first in the south to have a domestic registry and same-sex marriage. It’s important to note that most people who live in Eureka Springs chose to move here, Beacham said.

“They moved here from somewhere else,” Beacham said. “It’s unusual in a town to have that.”

Decades ago, Beacham said, the town would have a quiet season between December and March. That’s when everyone would get together for potluck dinners.

“We’d get to know each other. It was a real good mixture of straights and gays getting together and getting to know each other in a personal manner,” Beacham said.

Manire emphasized how important it is to have allies. In Eureka Springs, Manire said, the LGBTQ+ community has countless allies. It’s a stark difference from other communities, he said.

“In Fayetteville, we felt more tolerated,” Manire said. “Here, we feel embraced and wanted.”