A community-driven initiative called NWA Transcends has teamed up with NWA Equality and The Equality Crew to create a new directory for LGBTQ+ friendly businesses in Northwest Arkansas called Rainbow Radar. Ozarks at Large's Sophia Nourani spoke with Sam Ash, a task force member with NWA Transcends, about the group and the new directory. Ash says it's important to foster safety and belonging for transgender and nonbinary individuals in the region.
Sam Ash: So the Rainbow Radar is basically a digital hub for LGBTQ+ owned or affirming businesses and resources, really just a centralized place that people in our area can go to find businesses or providers that they can trust, that they can really show up as their authentic selves with.
Sophia Nourani: Can you tell me a little bit about the organization that you're a part of and how this all started?
Ash: Absolutely. So I wear a number of different hats with different volunteer organizations locally. One of my primary points of entry to this particular project was through a community task force called NWA Transcends. We're not a formal organization, but we're a group of community members that are really committed to having conversations and taking action to support, in particular, our trans folks here in the region. So through that group, we partnered with NWA Equality and The Equality Crew, which are two of the major LGBTQ+ nonprofits in the area, to work on developing this community hub. The project actually has been something that both The Equality Crew and NWA Equality have had versions of in the past, where they've had different resources listed as affirming providers in the area. But it's been difficult to keep that fully up to date. So partnering together with these different groups gave us an opportunity to say, okay, how can we all focus on creating something that we can then work to get the word out about and sustain over time?
Nourani: Yeah, 100%. And you mentioned it already, that's a lot of work to keep up with and constantly do. There's also a process to finding those businesses. Tell me a little bit about the breadth of where you were looking specifically and how you found the businesses you wanted to put on that radar.
Ash: Sure. So growing the Rainbow Radar is definitely going to continue to be a work in progress. There are some listings on there right now, but to really get it to where we want to be, we're definitely inviting the community to continue participating. So there are a few different ways that folks can get on the Rainbow Radar. If you are a business owner or a provider and want to take that initiative to reach out and say, hey, I really am an affirming person in this community, there's an opportunity to put yourself on the radar. But something that is also unique and cool about this is that there's also an opportunity for people in the community to nominate people to be put on there.
Nourani: Oh, very cool.
Ash: So if you are, say, a community member that has had a really positive experience somewhere that maybe isn't explicitly an LGBTQ+ owned or affiliated organization, but people in the community have had a positive, welcoming experience there, they can nominate that person or organization to be listed as an affirming place on the radar. So it just gives the opportunity for both business owners or providers, but also just your everyday person in the community, to all have their voice heard and represented in the radar.
Nourani: Well, where can people find the directory?
Ash: Yeah. So the Rainbow Radar is live at RainbowRadar.org. So when you go there, you will find a directory with different businesses, but also an event calendar, as well as a list of different resources in the area. So it's really both that business directory, but also a great place to stay informed with different events that are coming up too.
Nourani: Perfect. Maybe also describe what it's like when someone's pulling it up and how one would use it.
Ash: Absolutely. So when you go to the Rainbow Radar site, it pulls up as basically an opportunity to search different businesses. So you can, for example, filter by business type. If you're looking for shops or health care providers, things like that, or even just entertainment. There are services on there from lawn services to the full spread. So there's an opportunity to filter by business type. There's also a map feature. So if you want to pull up, oh, what are the different things around me where I am right now, you can go and look and see what's nearby. So there are a number of different ways that you can navigate it to see the different resources that are available around you or the different businesses. So you can filter by type, or if you just want to go out and explore and see what's around you, you can pull up the map and see what's nearby.
Nourani: Very cool. And this is all across Northwest Arkansas, correct?
Ash: It is. Yes. So right now, the majority of the resources that we have on the website are primarily centered around the Fayetteville area, but we do want it to include things that cover Springdale, Bentonville, Rogers, even up into Bella Vista. So we know in general that there are so many amazing resources and businesses and providers in this area that people just may not have heard about before. And so we do hope that this will be a way to spread the word about the number of affirming resources and providers that there are in the area.
Nourani: And then this is an encouragement for businesses and for folks who know of those businesses and organizations to go to the Rainbow Radar and put them on there and nominate them as well.
Ash: Absolutely. Yes. There are several different ways that folks can help out. Obviously, if you're a business owner or a provider and you want to really show that commitment, you can go on there and fill out some information to be listed as an affirming provider. But also, yes, if you're a community member and you've had a positive experience and want to highlight places that are affirming or places that you really have felt safe or a sense of belonging, this is a great place to go and put the word out into the community so other people can find and enjoy those places too.
Sam Ash is a task force member with NWA Transcends. The Rainbow Radar directory is online at RainbowRadar.org. Learn more about NWA Transcends on its Instagram page, @nwatranscends.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline and edited for length and clarity. Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue. The audio version is the authoritative record of KUAF programming.
