CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Alexis Oliva couldn’t be prouder of the pride display front and center at the Mercantile in Rock Hill.

“We have all of our good pride flags. If you recognize this queen, this is Buffy. We partner with her and do a lot of drag brunches,” Oliva said. “And then we have these beautiful wings. These are made, I believe, in like 2019. They were hung in our original location. And this is the first time I've made a debut in a long time.”

The 25-year-old identifies as bisexual. But it wasn’t until she came to work at the Mercantile in Rock Hill, South Carolina, that she felt comfortable being openly queer at work.

What You Need To Know

  •  The Mercantile in Rock Hill, S.C., is celebrating Pride Month in June

  •  Manager Alexis Oliva says support for LGBTQ communities has led to some unwelcomed threats from those who disagree

  •  Members of the Carolinas LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce says this is a growing trend 

“Any time you're in the queer community and you are like out about it, very loud and proud about it, as everyone should be and have the right to be, it is kind of hard to like, you know, go look for a job and like hope that like, you know, somebody isn't going to judge you or they're not going to ask you that question,” Oliva said.

Not only is the Rock Hill business LGBTQ-friendly, it helped start the Rock Hill Pride Festival in 2021.

But Oliva says sometimes the business is the target of hate.

“We will occasionally get somebody who comes in here and like they'll say something like very homophobic,” Oliva said. “And I will happily and gladly, and have done it before, I kicked them out and let them know they're not allowed to come back.”

The Mercantile isn’t alone. Jessica Milicevic with the Carolinas LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce says she is hearing from members frequently about threats toward businesses that are LGBTQ-friendly, especially online.

“The more violent they get online, it's only a matter of time before it seeps into the streets. And so we have to be very careful about protecting our members,” Milicevic said. “We live in a very divisive culture right now. It's very polarized. And people, I think, do feel more emboldened to voice their opinions in the loudest, most violent way possible. And it's easy to do that towards a community that is vulnerable, like the LGBTQ-plus community.”

Oliva says she chooses to respond with kindness, which gives her the positive energy to keep pushing forward.

“Just because you see rainbows and stuff and unicorns and fairies or whatever it is, like it's not just about that,” Oliva said. “It's much more deeper. It's all about the love, the equality, the being heard, the being yourself and like the basic human rights is what we're fighting for.”