ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT GAZETTE | ‘Sweet Tooth’ in Little Rock offers family-friendly outing for LGBTQ+ community
February 23, 2025 at 8:51 p.m.
Women talk during the Sweet Tooth event at Loblolly Creamery in the SoMa neighborhood of Little Rock on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. From clockwise from top left are Viktoria Capek, Whitney Butler, Tippi McCullough, Barb Mariain and Kathy Webb. Capek and Butler are the co-founders of Hairpins, a local group that hosts events for an event series for lesbians and queer people. Ten percent of the proceeds from the ice cream social went directly to help cover a local person's gender-affirming care. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Adam Vogler)
Hairpins, a group that holds gatherings for lesbian and queer people from around the state, hosted its first all-ages event, titled "Sweet Tooth," at Loblolly Creamery in Little Rock on Sunday afternoon to better connect local LGBTQ+ community members and to raise money to help cover a local transgender community member's gender-affirming care.
Hairpins was co-founded by Viktoria Capek and her fiance, Whitney Butler, last year. Capek said that she and Butler came up with the idea after a visit to New York City, where they visited the Cubbyhole, an "iconic lesbian dive bar."
"We were talking with other lesbians and queer women in there, and we just looked at each other and said, 'Why isn't there something like this in Little Rock?"
A few months later, the duo hosted their first 21-plus bar pop-up event at White Water Tavern in Little Rock.
"I enjoy Hairpins. ... We can meet our community, get to see people, and you start noticing those familiar faces," said Kristal Flatt, of Cabot, who has attended several Hairpins gatherings. "You might not be friends, you might not talk all the time, but it just kind of builds a tighter-knit community."
While the group's previous five events were all for age-appropriate adults, Capek said she and Butler wanted to make Hairpins accessible to a wider community.
"Having bar pop-ups isn't accessible to anyone who is under 21. To people who might not drink. To families who might not have a chance to make it out because they have to take care of their loved ones," Capek explained outside of Loblolly Creamery.
Following the event, Hairpins plans to donate 10% of Loblolly's sales made during the event, along with cash and GoFundMe donations, to Ilena, a local transgender community member raising funds to help cover the cost of her gender-affirming care. According to Capek, Sunday's event brought in over 300 attendees and raised a total of $572 for Ilena.
Inside the bustling store, Sarah and Mende Nall sat at a table with their children, Angel, 6, and Jasmine, 4, who each devoured the remnants of their ice cream cones.
"It's nice to have an event with other LGBT people and it's kid friendly. That was the attraction," Sarah said with a chuckle.
Since moving to Springdale about a year and a half ago, the lesbian couple said they have struggled to find a close-knit queer community and look forward to attending more kid-friendly Hairpins events in the future.
"These two haven't ever been exposed to any type of LGBT (community)," Mende said gesturing to her children. "So we'd like to be able to show them that we are OK."
"Getting to know people and feeling safe as well. Especially given the current political climate," Sarah added.
A Hairpins news release distributed by Capek emphasized the importance of events like Sunday's "Sweet Tooth" as "the wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation (moves) through federal and state governments-including Arkansas (House Bill) 1307."
Rep. Mindy McAlindon, R-Centerville, presented House Bill 1307 to the House Insurance and Commerce Committee on Thursday, where it passed 84-8.
The bill would amend the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act to prioritize financial responsibility by prohibiting investment decisions based on environmental, social and governance goals that do not yield the best in financial returns, according to McAlindon.
"Basically what it means is we don't want to play politics with the endowments of our universities and colleges," McAlindon said as she addressed the committee on Thursday.
"The singular goal of this bill is to protect institutional funds or endowments and it is to ensure that those funds are invested responsibly to maximize financial returns and to prevent the misuse of those funds for political or social agendas that do not serve the interests of Arkansas taxpayers," she added.
The bill was referred to the Senate's Insurance and Commerce Committee on Thursday, according to the Arkansas State Legislature website.
According to information in HB1307, if the bill is passed, institutions covered under the Uniform Management of Institutional Funds Act, "including without limitation a two-year or four-year state supported institution of higher education," would no longer be able to use funds for a variety of purposes, including "providing access to or facilitating an abortion, gender-reassignment, or sex-reassignment medication or procedure."
"They are restricting funds from transgender individuals, receiving life-saving health care," Capek said. "What we're doing with an event like this is being proactive as opposed to being reactive. ... This event is our way of saying 'If the government won't pay for and protect these individuals ... then we will.' And the best way that we're able to do that is with our dollar bills," Capek said in reference to the event's fundraising for Ilena.
Several public officials were also in attendance at Sunday's event, including Little Rock City Director Kathy Webb and state Rep. Tippi McCullough, D-Little Rock, who was joined by her wife, Barbara Mariani.
"I think it's important that I'm here to listen," McCullough said. "I want to meet as many people as I can. Also, with it being a younger generation, I certainly need to get that viewpoint, hear their thoughts, their fears, what they think should be being done."
Fifteen-year-old Vivian Kincaid sat with her friends, Mara Baxter and Abigail Cheshir, both 15, inside Loblolly Creamery on Sunday. The trio, all sophomores at Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School, learned about the event from Baxter's mother, a volunteer for Free Mom Hugs, which is a nonprofit that supports LGBTQ+ individuals. The nonprofit's Little Rock chapter had a table set up during "Sweet Tooth" to show their support.
The three teenage sophomores said that being queer was still very stigmatized among some students at their high school, and also said there are not many spaces for LGBTQ+ students to gather and connect.
"Our school just doesn't really talk about that kind of stuff in general," Cheshir said.
"It's important to know that you belong somewhere, no matter what you identify as," said Kincaid, who recently came out as bisexual. "To know you have community -- just like for your mental health -- because when you see your legislators actively trying to take away your rights, it's hard to really stay up and be happy."
Nineteen-year old Ash Hix described the Hairpins event as a beacon of hope for a young queer person.
"Growing up in a state where I didn't think I could fit in ... I'm surrounded by people that are just like me," they said.