Lost River, WV: An Unexpected Gay Dtatn

Contents:

• IN THE BACKWOODS OF LOST RIVER, A GAY RETREAT
• A GAY DC POWER COUPLE IS REMAKG A WT VIRGIA TOWN. NOT EVERYONE IS HAPPY ABOUT IT.
• PEACEFUL, GAY-FRIENDLY WT VIRGIA... - GUTHOE LOST RIVER
• IN THE BACKWOODS OF LOST RIVER, A GAY RETREAT
• A GAY GETAWAY THRIV AN UNLIKELY PLACE
• GAY GUI TO LOST RIVER
• GAY LOST RIVER (GRAFTON COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE)
• EXPLORE GAY ROOMS & RENTALS LOST RIVER HOSTEL
• 8 GAY-FRIENDLY DTATNS TO VIS THIS YEAR

IN THE BACKWOODS OF LOST RIVER, A GAY RETREAT

Lost River is also a major statn for gay tourists om Washgton: a sort of Provcetown on the Potomac (the actual river is a tributary of the Potomac River). Gay muny, ” said Michael Cole-Schwartz, the munitns director for the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights advocy group.

“It’s nice to get away to the untry whout worryg about lol attus that might be uniendly toward gay people.

A GAY DC POWER COUPLE IS REMAKG A WT VIRGIA TOWN. NOT EVERYONE IS HAPPY ABOUT IT.

“Live and let live” is how many lols view their relatnship wh the gay newers, said Diane Mathias, 44, who is gay and a lifelong rint of Lost River Valley. “Some of the lols may say ‘gay people are damned to hell’ at church on Sunday, but they’ll still e here Monday morng to get their oil changed, ” said Ms. Mathias, who said her regular ctomers know she is the legalizatn of gay marriage the District of Columbia and Maryland recent years, more gay upl are holdg their weddg receptns Lost River.

PEACEFUL, GAY-FRIENDLY WT VIRGIA... - GUTHOE LOST RIVER

The growg gay prence also has helped the enomy, as gay men and lbians add bs like the new Lost River Farmers Market and the Lost River Tradg Post, an upsle store that opened September nearby Warnsville. Dillard, a brawny 67-year-old who is gay.

“Two or three upl would always be gay, ” he said.

IN THE BACKWOODS OF LOST RIVER, A GAY RETREAT

Dillard cid to make the Guthoe an official gay tablishment.

A GAY GETAWAY THRIV AN UNLIKELY PLACE

He started advertisg the Washgton Bla, a newspaper servg gay men and lbians, transgenr people and bisexuals.

From then on, he said, “I had an credible followg of people, and I felt very fortable bee the heterosexuals who would e were iends wh the gays who were g.

GAY GUI TO LOST RIVER

He has veloped and sold more than 400 hom the Lost River Valley, the vast majory to gay upl. But ’s clear that attus toward gays ntue to evolve. “At my church, we have some people who will really voice their opn about gays; they jt nnot accept them and they don’t want to try to unrstand them or have anythg to do wh them, ” said Evelyn Webster, 79, who has lived her whole life Lost Cy, a muny adjacent to Lost River.

I thk bee so many people have e out of the closet, and many of fd that we have someone our fay or a close iend who is gay. ” A versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn TR, Page 9 of the New York edn wh the headle: In the Backwoods of Lost River, a Gay Retreat. The Guthoe Lost River is gay owned and operated and has been the go-to place for the LGBT muny for s.

GAY LOST RIVER (GRAFTON COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE)

Lost River, WV: An Unexpected Gay Dtatn.

EXPLORE GAY ROOMS & RENTALS LOST RIVER HOSTEL

Wt Virgia isn't the first place you'd expect to fd a gay statn. It might sound rather formidable, here a sleepy farm town wh a church for every 50 rints: a duo who until recently were one of DC’s leadg gay polil power upl, turng a ep-red rner of Appalachia to a mag for weekendg Washgtonians? They also bought the hoe next door, moved , and raised a gay-pri flag out ont.

The next stop over is Lost River, a mountao enclave that’s long been popular wh gay DC weekenrs. She promptly “fell love, ” opened a vtage store lled Lucky Johnson’s, and hung the town’s send gay-pri flag.

8 GAY-FRIENDLY DTATNS TO VIS THIS YEAR

“I mean, we got our gay people out here.

At her church, people told Ratcliff they didn’t like her associatg wh gay people.