CONTACTAbout UsCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2025 Equal Entertainment LLC.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
We need your help
Your support makes The Advocate's original LGBTQ+ reporting possible. Become a member today to help us continue this work.
Your support makes The Advocate's original LGBTQ+ reporting possible. Become a member today to help us continue this work.
A North Carolina businessman has dropped plans to open a gay retreat in Grundy County, Tenn., because the site was vandalized this week. "This is a place I'm asking friends and guests to come to, and there's no way I would do that without knowing they would be 100% safe," Allan Winkler said. "I've already received 10 death threats by E-mail." Winkler said he had been planning the retreat for four years and expected it to open in the spring. He said only members were supposed to know the location, but someone somehow found the site. The security gate system was stolen, and the office building was demolished Sunday on the 75-acre site, he said. Winkler said he thought Grundy County would be a good location for his Blue Fox Retreat because of its outdoor beauty, adding that he had never before had problems with the local residents. Winkler said he called the American Civil Liberties Union and the Washington, D.C.-based gay rights group Human Rights Campaign about the vandalism. Dyana Mason, southern field organizer for HRC, said she called the sheriff's department about the investigation. "If it does turn out to be a hate crime, we want to make sure justice is done," she said.
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
Watch Now: Pride Today
Latest Stories
5,000 users leave trans subreddit in wake of transmasculine controversy
July 16 2025 4:10 PM
Cooper Koch’s Emmy nomination earned him a surprise prison call
July 16 2025 3:47 PM
Florida officials claim SCOTUS ruling allows them to deny trans adults health care
July 16 2025 2:43 PM
Kevin Spacey demands release of Epstein files
July 16 2025 2:12 PM
Florida authorities search for truck driver who vandalized rainbow intersection
July 16 2025 1:12 PM
Ric Grenell’s rogue diplomacy stalls Marco Rubio’s Venezuela prisoner deal
July 16 2025 12:25 PM