KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — In South Knoxville, in a scruffy strip mall next to a comic book store, there's a coffee shop. Inside, Progress Flags wave alongside colors representing different LGBTQ+ identities. It's where many community members go to work, talk and enjoy a cup of chai.
It's run by Joslynn Fish, a transgender woman who offers South Press as a gathering spot and platform for the LGBTQ+ community in Knoxville. The coffee shop emerged out of the COVID-19 pandemic as a hub for the community.
In February 2020, Fish lost her job. She was one of thousands of people whose livelihoods were upended by the COVID-19 pandemic, which shuttered businesses across the world and claimed more than 1,600 lives in Knox County since the pandemic began.
At that time, she had been in the workforce for 24 years and had been used to living on schedule. Like many people during the pandemic, she thought she would effectively take a vacation.
"My knee-jerk reaction when I lost my job was not to file for unemployment, because I thought, 'COVID will be over in two weeks. Why would I file for unemployment?' I missed the window for filing for unemployment," she said.
Her job hunt was fruitless, but she said she didn't want to sit idly. Instead, she said she went to work trying to improve her South Knoxville community.
"What do we not have that we need? And as a person who doesn't drink, I find it sometimes difficult to find community spaces that are not alcohol-centered and within walking distance of my house," she said. "So, I rented the cheapest unit on the entirety of Chapman Highway."
It was around 800 square feet large and was once the home of a beauty shop. She began renovating it herself, except for plumbing and electrical work, before officially opening in September 2020 — still during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Masks were required unless visitors were actively eating or drinking, following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She also operated at half capacity at first, before moving to curbside-only.
"When you care about the people who are coming into your space, you keep their health and their safety at the forefront. And I couldn't do that allowing guests in the shop," she said.
Businesses closed across the country, as the pandemic posed too much of a challenge to overcome. South Press' space was too small to safely let people in, so Fish upgraded. She moved to a 2,800-square-foot space, where the coffee shop is currently located.
Safety guidelines have been relaxed since the pandemic, but the new storefront often has barely enough space for the number of visitors who stop by.
"On Saturdays, we run out of seats. We're having to ask people to scooch in, and for almost every community event we're having to pull out folding chairs to make room — because you can always pull another seat up to the table," she said.
She said South Press only began selling coffee so it could pay the bills that come with operating a community space. After moving to its current location, she said she mostly operated independently while hoping to grow South Press enough to where it could hire employees and pay a livable wage.
"I had never had a job making more than $2.13 an hour. And I worked for that wage for so long that I started believing that that was all I was worth," she said. "When I serve people, I want it to be good. I want you to have a good experience. If you do not have that naturally, as a team member making a livable wage, getting paid and compensated for your time and your talent and what you bring to the table — (it) will make you care about the work."
She said around 70% of South Press' customers are college students, mostly because it is located near downtown Knoxville. She also said South Press actively seeks to keep its space safe for LGBTQ+ people. She's said she's willing to tell people who mistreat guests to leave and find coffee somewhere else.
"Everyone who comes in here is delightful. They will wait for 40 minutes on a Saturday morning to get a latte, they will be grateful to be served. I think it's because what we're doing here is so much bigger than coffee," Fish said. "'Queer' to me is a blanket term. So if you are punk, you are queer. If you are goth, you are queer. If you are a person of color, you are queer — because you are a minority."
Now, South Press hosts a variety of affirming programs and community events. Through it, the Trans People are Magic Cabaret raises money to help transgender pay for legal name changes. It hosts karaoke on Wednesday nights, as well as open mic nights, and recently hosted a Pride Month kickoff party.
South Press is located at 3615 Chapman Highway in South Knoxville. It's closed on Sundays and Mondays, but open from 8 a.m. through 6 p.m. on other days of the week.
On any day it's open, visitors can explore bookshelves featuring a variety of materials, especially LGBTQ+-themed ones. They can find LGBTQ+ merchandise and resources available in East Tennessee. Visitors can usually also find friends, welcoming them to relax and take a seat.
"We may not serve the best cup of coffee in town. But when you leave here, you will remember the way this place made you feel and people return, because they liked the way a place makes them feel," Fish said.
In the future, Fish said she hopes to change South Press from an organization with sole proprietorship into something more aligned with the nonprofit sector. She said while she's often credited with the work South Press does, she believes the space belongs to the community.
"It's important to me that trans people always own the space," she said. "So that not only now, but forever, trans people own South Press. Because, who better to curate a safe space for marginalized groups than those who experience, I'm not going to say the most, but certainly in the last couple of years we've been under a microscope and heard a lot of really horrific stories that are not true about us."
So, she said she made sure to include in the coffee shop's bylaws that only transgender people can serve on its board, to make sure it remains affirming and safe for marginalized groups in the future.
"We needed to be in a space where we could just take a deep breath, and know that everything's okay. And that's what South Press is — it's a place where you can take a deep breath and for a time, know that everything is going to be okay," Fish said.