According to Richard Florida's book The Rise of the Creative Class, you choose the first option. Florida used what he calls the "Creativity Index" to rank cities according to their economic viability and ability to attract and retain young, creative people via three criteria: technology, talent and tolerance. If technology, talent and tolerance = success, then Charlotte is missing the boat. You can read more details of exactly what Florida says about our city's place in the Creative Class equation by reading Tara Servatius' accompanying article.
In this article, we're exploring where some creative Charlotteans feel the city fits into the "diversity and tolerance" part of the Creative Class picture. We talked with newcomers to the city to see what drew them here and what they think about its potential for attracting creative people. And we talked with the folks that Richard Florida calls the "canaries" of the creative economy -- the gay and lesbian community. According to Florida, the presence of a strong, successful gay/lesbian community signals an environment that would attract creative people from a variety of backgrounds.
Better, but a long way to go
Florida stresses that a city needs to be tolerant of diversity so it can attract a variety of people who look, think and act differently. "Where gays are will be a community that has the underlying preconditions that attract the creative class of people," he writes. "Gays tend to gravitate toward the types of places that will be attractive to many members of the creative class."
We spoke to some of the more politically and socially active members of Charlotte's gay community to get an idea of how they see Charlotte's record in the area of diversity and tolerance.
A couple of things emerged: Overall, those interviewed said that Charlotte is more "gay friendly" than in the past, but there's still a lot of room for improvement. While the idea of a gay couple walking hand-in-hand is no big deal in some parts of the Queen City, it's still akin to painting yourself purple and wearing a chicken on your head -- and even dangerous -- in others.
Another main point that emerged is that while some bigger companies in Charlotte embrace and welcome diversity, as demonstrated by their policies and benefits, our elected officials still don't get it, as evidenced by the city and county's policies and benefits.
Sure, Charlotte is still light-years away from places like New York, or even Atlanta, in terms of diversity and open-mindedness. But on the flip side, the weather is great, and the city is still a comparatively easy place in which to live and navigate. And remember, we're talking about a city whose leaders were so homophobic and clueless that in 1997 the County Commission voted to cut $25 million in funding to the Arts and Science Council because they objected to homosexual themes in Charlotte Rep's production of Angels in America. It's five years later. Has anything changed?
"In some ways yes, but in a lot of ways it hasn't changed at all," said Phil Wells, an attorney. "At that time, there was very little participation in the political process by the gay and lesbian community. As a result of the Arts and Science Council funding fiasco, we formed the Mecklenburg Gay & Lesbian PAC [MeckPAC, a political action committee]. We have canvassed neighborhoods for candidates, we have put up yard signs, raised money, held fundraisers, but we're really no further along on any issue than when Angels in America was here. You've still got people like Bill James calling us felons, and no other elected officials want to challenge him on that. If you look at communities where there is true respect for diversity and gay and lesbian rights, you'll see leadership from elected officials on gay issues. You don't have that here."
It's been Charlotte's elected officials' reluctance to champion any gay issues that seems to most frustrate members of the gay community. Many say that while there has been some dialogue behind the scenes with the city's politicians, when it comes time to publicly show support, the answer is always "Not now, I'm up for re-election."
"Our elected officials could certainly do more," said Mike Davis, a director of Wachovia Securities. "They seek and receive our support, but unfortunately we don't get a whole lot of support in return. Domestic partner benefits at the city/county level would deliver a big message. And I think they could be more supportive in their dialogue."
