Matt Comer is editor of Q-Notes, the Carolinas' LGBT newspaper. Active in LGBT advocacy since high school, Matt's story of growing up gay in a conservative and religious family was published alongside 39 others in Mitchell Gold's Crisis: 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social, and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing Up Gay In America.

"I came out when I was 14 at the end of my eighth-grade year in Winston-Salem. The first folks that I came out to were friends. Actually, the first person that I came out to was a friend in my Boy Scout troop, then friends at school and then my family," he said.

And Comer said there weren't many role models for a gay boy to see at the time — when the predominate image of gay men came from Queer as Folk and Will and Grace. "I was trying to fit into some mold that I though was supposed to be me. I got a lot of flack from friends because I was this stereotypical, flamboyant gay kid. But it was easier for friends to accept me than it was my family. I still have discussion with my mother today about whether homosexuality is right or wrong."

"Winston-Salem is definitely a conservative town and my family was a conservative religious family. We're baptist from the South and they very much believed that homosexuality was a sin. So, I had a lot of tough battles between me and my mother over my sexual orientation. But being raised in a very conservative and fundamentalist baptist church, the one thing that I've always been taught is that I should stand up for what I believe in and that's exactly what I did. When I was a freshman at R.J. Reynolds High School, I started the gay-straight alliance there. Back in 2000, there were only nine gay-straight alliances statewide, but it's almost ten-fold that number now, there are close to 100."

Comer said there weren't a lot of people in his community that were happy to see groups like his, but he found allies in the conservative community. Including his school principal.

"That experience, that advocacy experience in high school set me on the track that I'm on today, working with and for the LGBT community."

Mitchell Killman was the local organizer of this summer's Nationwide Kiss-In Movement in Charlotte.

And he's also a part of the OUT Parade that's happening in Uptown on October 11th, which is National Coming Out Day.

"The OUT Parade is a sidewalk parade to celebrate national Coming Out Day and provide more visibility and support for Charlotte's LGBT community and their allies," he said.

Killman talks about his coming out this way:

"I came out to my immediate family on September 16th, 2002, not long after having left home for college. Looking back I realize that coming out is not so much an one-time event as it is a life-long process.Coming out has been equally the most painful and the most rewarding experience I've ever had in life. Never has anything taught me so much and made me so thankful and proud of who I am. Being out has made me more compassionate, patient, tolerant and open-minded.

"More than anything, coming out has led me to a higher standard of honesty for my own life and the people I am closest with. I wouldn't trade my coming out experience for anything and I encourage others to join us on October 11th and COME OUT!"

Monica Raye Simpson said she arrived in Charlotte as a student and was just figuring out who she was.

It was during her tenure at Johnson C. Smith University that she became her true self.

"I started to realize more and more who I was identifying as wasn't really the truth and felt like I was having to keep that face as a person who was young, black, woman who had to be with a guy because that's what fit and that's what society wanted to see. I wanted to be a good [communications] professional, I wanted to make a

difference in society. And I didn't see women who were black and identified as lesbian in that role. So whenever those thoughts came up when I was in college and those feelings and those urges, I was like push that to the side, stay in the picture."

But she said that after awhile, she couldn't do that any longer.

"I saw many of my friends being abused, violent acts started happening against LGBT folks on campus and nothing being done about that. So, a group of us came together at that time and said, we're going to stand up for our people. We didn't really know who to call or contact. The Lesbian and Gay Community Center was getting started at the time. One of the other people I met at the time was a pastor who had just moved here to start a church that was welcoming all of God's children home and her name was — at that time — Rev. Tonia Rawls, now it's "Bishop." She became a really great advisor to us. We had a big forum on campus, and I graduated ... and I think they were ready for me to graduate because I had become really militant at that time. I was a very militant lesbian and was like, "you better get used to it". I was the editor of the student newspaper, so I was writing about this stuff, and I was about to denounce my sorority letters. At the time, I was really about it."

After coming out, Simpson made a career of working in the LGBT community. Her first job after college was with the Lesbian and Gay Community Center. She was one of the founders of Charlotte's black gay pride and she currently works for Grassroots Leadership, a progressive Southern movement that works to bring Southern activists together.

Think of the last place you bought a sex toy from or the last sex shop you visited. If you walked into an Adam & Eve store or logged on to AdamMale.com, you were — believe it or not — supporting local business.

Creative Loafing spoke with Bobby Stone, marketing director of AdamMale, which is a leader in gay male home entertainment that is under the Adam and Eve umbrella, about the company and how people react to the fact that one of the nation's leading sex shops is right here in North Carolina.

Creative Loafing: Are people surprised that you all are located in North Carolina?

Bobby Stone: We are pretty much under the radar. Adam and Eve is a well-known name, but people are surprised that AdamMale is located here in North Carolina, particularly in Hillsborough.

What are some things you've heard when people find out that your company is headquartered in North Carolina?

Well, a few years ago — about 15 years ago — the name Jesse Helms kept popping up. "Isn't that where Jesse Helms is from?"

What are some of the most exciting toys that you guys sell?

To me, some of our larger toys go over very well with the AdamMale customers. And for those who can afford them, some of our life-like torso pieces. They go over very well. This year had been the year for prostate toys; vibrating prostate toys have really taken hold in the straight and the gay market this year.

The AdamMale Web site is for gay men, but can't some of those toys sold at the site be used by straight couples?

We carry a full line of dildos that women can use and couples can use. There is a great deal of crossover, products that can be used by the gay audience and the straight audience. But it really depends on the packaging. I really don't like to carry anything on the AdamMale line that has a woman on the package.

What makes your company stand out from others that sell sex toys?

We're constantly testing and we have a very strong entrepreneurial spirit. When I say testing, we're not only testing the new products that we offer, but we're testing new ways to bring in new customers. We keep our eyes open for everything and we have our hands in every place where you can reach an audience for adult products.

Want to check out Adam and Eve and AdamMale online? Log on at: www.adammale.com and www.adameve.com