This article is part of the official Virginia Pride Festival Guide, released ahead of the celebration on Saturday, September 27.
Presented with the support of Out RVA, Allianz, Hit Play, Virginia Lottery, CarMax, Bank of America, CoStar Group, Genworth, CapTech, and Bar West, with media support from Richmond Times-Dispatch, Richmond Magazine, Queer RVA, and RVA Magazine. Special thanks to Steve Davis of River Fox Realty for his support.
The complete Pride Guide is available for download HERE, and you can also visit our dedicated festival page for all event details, schedules, and updates as your one-stop hub for everything Pride Fest HERE.
When Matt Narsinghan, along with husband Nafis, opened Gold Lion Community Cafe in Manchester in October 2023, he wasn’t just starting a café. He was creating a community hub built on empathy, activism, and inclusion.
“I wanted to continue giving back,” Narsinghani says. “Corporations were pulling back from DEI and Pride initiatives. Gold Lion became a way to keep that commitment alive, but on my own terms.”
That commitment is visible in the way the space operates. Anyone can ask for free food. Clothing and hygiene items are available through an in-house shop. Unlike many restaurants that put up barriers against unhoused people, Gold Lion welcomes them alongside neighbors, politicians, queer youth, and people in recovery. “This is a community space,” Narsinghani explains. “Everyone belongs at the table.”
His vision comes from personal experience. Raised by a single mother during the 2008 economic collapse, he remembers stretches of poverty and eviction. His father struggled with addiction, teaching him early that compassion often begins with lived experience. “Addiction isn’t a choice—it’s a disease,” he says. “Growing up with that gave me a different kind of empathy. That’s what drives me to help people.”
His family history deepens that sense of responsibility. Relatives were incarcerated in Japanese-American internment camps during World War II, and his great-grandfather, known as the “Mayor of Little Tokyo” in Los Angeles, helped Japanese immigrants find housing and work. “I didn’t even know that part of my family story until recently,” he says. “But seeing that parallel it felt like continuing his work.”
Before Gold Lion, Narsinghani spent nearly a decade at Dell, where he served on the global Pride Employee Resource Group. That role gave him a platform for activism across the U.S., Latin America, and Asia. But when corporate layoffs hit and support for DEI programs began to fade, he wanted something different. “Corporate Pride can only go so far,” he says. “Grassroots Pride, lived every day in spaces like this, can reach deeper.”
For other small businesses, Gold Lion’s model can feel intimidating. But Narsinghani insists it’s more approachable than people think. “Many restaurants are already doing this quietly—slipping meals to someone outside or letting someone linger,” he says. “We just formalized it. And opening your doors doesn’t mean you’ll get a flood of people. It means you create dignity.” Gold Lion is currently fundraising to expand the model beyond Manchester. The goal is to help other restaurants and spaces around Richmond adopt similar programs. “We don’t want to be the only ones,” he says. “We want a network.” Partnerships with groups like Studio Two Three, MAD RVA, and Community Bridges have helped the space grow quickly in its first two years.
For Narsinghani, Richmond is the right place for this work. “Richmond is a battle for the soul of America,” he says. “We carry the weight of slavery and Jim Crow, but we’re also majority-Black, with a huge queer community and one of the fastest-growing Asian American populations in the country. Change is happening here.” Having lived in Washington, Baltimore, Nashville, and Miami, he calls Richmond the most queer-friendly city he’s experienced. “It’s not about being ‘the gay person’ in the room. It’s about being Matt, and just being part of the mix. That’s what community should feel like.”
As Virginia Pride 2025 approaches, Narsinghani emphasizes why it matters. “Pride is a protest,” he says. “This year especially, when LGBTQ rights are being rolled back across the country, Pride means standing up and saying we’re here, and we’re not going anywhere.” For him, Gold Lion is both café and beacon, a reminder that Pride isn’t just a weekend festival. It’s a daily practice of solidarity, justice, and care.
“Every day I see how people are connecting here, how lives are impacted,” he says. “That’s worth more than money.”
Main photo: Matt & Nafis Narsinghani at Gold Lion Community Cafe
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