O&AN I June 2014

PRIDE

2014 OUTANDABOUT NASHVILLE.COM

JUNE 2014

VOLUME 13 | ISSUE 6

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HRC launches Project One America

Initiative takes aim at inequality in three Deep South states reality and the other where LGBT people lack the most fundamental measures of equal citizenship. Project One The South has long been a region hampered by America is an unparalleled effort to close that gap...” inequality, not only among its own citizens but its own One might wonder why the focus on Mississippi, inequality with other parts of the country. So when looking Alabama and Arkansas. In an email, Hubert Tate, the at LGBTQ issues it is important to acknowledge that the HRC Press Secretary for Project One America, explained problem is two-fold. The tenuous state court decision that these states, which face conditions not dissimilar to striking down Arkansas’s state ban on gay marriage those across the South, do have one distinct disadvantage: notwithstanding, same-sex marriage has yet to be securely “Unlike other states in the South, these three states lack established in the South, and the just-concluded state fully resourced and staffed LGBT statewide equality legislative session saw a number of attempts to roll back campaigns.” Pressing for equality and working to gay rights in a number of key venues. From the other change the culture and attitudes in these states, which side, however, according to a 2014 report by Funders for all neighbor Tennessee, will also contribute to the sense LGBTQ Issues, national organizations demonstrates a of inevitable change here as well. “While Mississippi, huge disparity in national funding for LGBTQ issues in Alabama, and Arkansas will have an intense focus, HRC the South. remains the single largest national LGBT organizer in the JAMES A. GRADY

‘‘

OF THE ESTIMATED 8 MILLION ‘OUT’ LGBT ADULTS LIVING IN THE UNITED STATES, NEARLY 2.7 MILLION ARE LIVING IN THE U.S. SOUTH—NEARLY ONE-THIRD OF South.” And with its new investment, HRC is posed to ALL LGBT ADULTS. become one of, if not the, single most significant funder

‘‘

The numbers are stark. “Of the estimated 8 million ‘out’ LGBT adults living in the United States, nearly 2.7 million are living in the U.S. South—nearly one-third of all LGBT adults.” When it comes to funding, however, the percentage shifts dramatically. While national foundation funding in 2011 & 2012 provided LGBTQ organizations “$123 million and $121.4 million respectively,” funding for such organizations “based in or serving the 14 Southern states totaled a mere $4.4 million in 2011 and $4.8 million in 2012.” The easy justification for this is that such money would not be well spent and that LGBTQ rights will have to be won at the national level and forced upon the South.

But the recent state court decision in Arkansas, and the effective lobbying of local groups like the Tennessee Equality Project reveal this justification to be short-sighted.

Enter the Human Rights Campaign and its new initiative Project One America. In late April 2014, the HRC Blog announced the South’s largest ever coordinated push for LGBT rights, “a comprehensive campaign to dramatically expand LGBT equality in the South through permanent campaigns in Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas.” With a three-year commitment of $8.5 million and 20 staffers, the roughly $2.8 million the HRC will spend annually in the South in the next three years would equal over 50% of national funding for local LGBTQ issues in the South for 2012.

HRC President Chad Griffin addressed similar concerns as those founded in the Funder’s Report in a statement:“Right now, this country is deeply divided into two Americas—one where LGBT equality is nearly a

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for LGBTQ rights in the South.

Project One America does not signal a diversion of resources. On the very practical level, HRC continues to engage in activism pressing for non-discrimination ordinances in Tennessee cities, like it did in Chattanooga, and for rights statewide. HRC’s presence in Tennessee will remain strong and focused. “We will continue,” Tate vowed, “to make sure HRC’s public education and outreach programs are present in Tennessee and across the South helping to transform the institutions that affect the daily lives of LGBT people.”

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Out & About Nashville welcomes volunteer writers, photographers and videographers throughout the year. If you’re interested in contributing to our publication, send an email to editor@ outandaboutnashville.com with a resume, contact information and samples of your work if available. Our volunteer staff is unpaid, but contributors do receive credit for their work in our print publication and online.

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JOSEPH BROWNELL

On your mark. Get set. GAY. Gay 5K Run (or walk), that is. Or if the Saturday morning start time is too early, you can even ‘sleep-in.’ The point is— run, walk, sleep, roll, crawl, lesbian, gay, bi, trans or straight—anyone can help celebrate diversity with OutCentral’s seventh annual Gay 5K Run/Walk.

Seven years ago, a tiny race that could—known then only as The Rainbow Run—laced up its shoes with a handful of runners. With a name switch in 2012, the Gay 5K has steadily built itself into the Pride month schedules of many Nashville runners (and other supporters).

Last year’s event drew more than 150 registered runners and the 2014 race is aiming even higher as the OutCentral and the Gay 5K host it’s first-ever chip timed race. We’ve listened to the feedback from previous years’ runners and we are very excited to offer chip timing to Gay 5K participants this year,” said Stacey Irvin, co-chair of the Gay 5K committee.

“For serious runners, chip timing makes all the difference when deciding which races to run. We hope that chip timing will attract even more runners to our event.”

The 2014 Gay 5K Run and Walk, presented by Elan Hair and Skin, will take place Saturday, June 28, 2014 at the Shelby Bottoms Greenway in East Nashville. While runners are urged to register in advance, registration will open that morning at 6:45 a.m., with a 7:30 a.m. 5K race time. Registration for the 5K Run/Walk is $30 and includes a Gay 5K t-shirt. Children are encouraged to participate in the 1-mile FUN RUN and registration for that is $15. And of course, you can still support OutCentral and hit snooze all Saturday morning long with the popular ‘sleep-in’ option—no one will ever know you didn’t run the race for that t-shirt! No matter your level of activity, all registration can be done in advance by clicking the giant Gay 5K logo on OutCentral’s homepage.

Participants are encouraged to wear their best rainbow running wear and prizes will be awarded to the top runners and the best costumes.

PHOTO BY CHISTOPHER MALONE

Gay 5K goes bigger and bolder for 2014

For more information, visit outcentral.org

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O&AN names two new leaders Grady and Brant assume managing editor roles STAFF REPORTS

Out & About Nashville (O&AN) has named two top gay journalists to lead the publication as it begins its 12th year in publication.

On June 1, 2014, James A. Grady will take the reigns as Managing Print Editor and Joseph Brant will head all digital efforts as Managing Digital Editor.

Both have previously worked with O&AN and move into the two top leadership positions with a deep knowledge of O&AN and how to serve its readership. They were selected from a national pool of candidates, with more than 60 people vying for the positions.

Grady and Brant will work together to develop a sharp focus on meeting the community’s news, lifestyle and entertainment needs as well as expanding its writing staff.

Grady is a former Fellow at Vanderbilt University, where he is completing his Ph.D., and worked for five years with the Vanderbilt University Writing Studio. He has been a volunteer writer with O&AN for the past year. Grady will oversee the print publication, O&AN, including setting the creative and editorial direction.

TO THE

HOUSE VICTORY

THAT

Brant worked with O&AN from 2003 to 2008 as a senior writer, reporter and columnist. He is a graduate from Belmont University with a BBA degree.

He will finish a post-graduate certificate in Social Media from Seneca College this summer. Brant will oversee all digital properties including the O&AN website, Facebook page (now close to 7,000 followers), Twitter (2,313 followers) and its weekly Email Newsletter.

“We’re very excited to have a new team in place with such exceptional credentials to take over the editorial leadership of O&AN,” said Jerry Jones, owner and publisher of O&AN. “We promise our readers that we’ll continue to provide the excellent coverage of the LGBT community that they have come to expect.”

O&AN is Tennessee’s largest LGBT publication, and provides a monthly print publication with some 30,000 readers, as well as an Internet site that is constantly updated with news and boosts add an additional 30,000 readers. O&AN began publishing in October 2002. It is the only LGBT publication in Tennessee that distributes in select local Kroger grocery stores, allowing wide-spread distribution in Davidson, Rutherford, Maury and Williamson counties.

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JUNE 2014

BUILT FRI SEPT 19

CDC recommends daily HIV prevention pill for at-risk populations Nashville CARES supports guidelines STAFF REPORTS

Health care providers should consider advising the use of anti-HIV drugs by uninfected patients who are at substantial risk of infection, according to new clinical guidelines.

PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, could reduce HIV infection rates. When taken daily as directed, PrEP can reduce the risk of HIV infection by more than 90 percent. Inconsistent use results in much lower levels of protection.

“HIV infection is preventable, yet every year we see some 50,000 new HIV infections in the United States,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “PrEP, used along with other prevention strategies, has the potential to help at-risk individuals protect themselves and reduce new HIV infections in the US.” The guidelines were developed by CDC in partnership with other federal health agencies, public health experts and community leaders.

The guidelines say PrEP should be considered for HIV-uninfected patients with any of the following indications: •Anyone who is in an ongoing sexual relationship with an HIVinfected partner.

•A gay or bisexual man who has had sex without a condom or has been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection within the past six months, and is not in a mutually monogamous relationship with a partner who recently tested HIV-negative.

•A heterosexual man or woman who does not always use condoms when having sex with partners known to be at risk for HIV (for example, injecting drug users or bisexual male partners of unknown HIV status), and is not in a mutually-monogamous relationship with a partner who recently tested HIV-negative.

•Anyone who has, within the past six months, injected illicit drugs and shared equipment or been in a treatment program for injection drug use.

“While a vaccine or cure may one day end the HIV epidemic, PrEP is a powerful tool that has the potential to alter the course of the U.S.

HIV epidemic today,” said Jonathan Mermin, M.D., M.P.H., director of CDC’s National Center for HIV/ AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. “These guidelines represent an important step toward fully realizing the promise of PrEP. We should add to this momentum, working to ensure that PrEP is used by the right people, in the right way, in the right circumstances.”

“For some time now Nashville CARES has been advocating that PrEP is an important part of the HIV prevention toolbox,” said Joseph Interrante, CEO of Nashville CARES. “PrEP, used along with other prevention strategies, has the potential to help atrisk individuals protect themselves and ultimately reduce new HIV infections.”

The guidelines offer providers specific advice on how to give people the support they need to take their pills regularly. Given the need for high adherence and the lack of complete protection from HIV with PrEP or any other single strategy, the guidelines encourage providers to promote and support its use in combination with condoms and other proven riskreduction strategies. Accompanying the guidelines is a supplement that includes checklists and interview guides to assist clinicians with PrEP prescribing and counseling.

The guidelines build on interim guidance issued by CDC following the release of research findings on PrEP for men who have sex with men (MSM), heterosexuals, and people who inject drugs. In 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the drug combination of 300 milligrams tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and 200 milligrams emtricitabine (TDF/FTC) for use as PrEP in combination with safer sex practices.

Consistent with FDA labeling, the guidelines stress the importance of HIV testing before PrEP is prescribed and at three-month intervals while a patient is using PrEP. Regular testing ensures that anyone on PrEP who becomes infected with HIV discontinues PrEP use in order to minimize the risk that the virus could become resistant to the drugs.

Such patients then can begin receiving HIV treatment.

“Nashville CARES supports the CDC guidelines,” added Interrante.

“And, more importantly, we support the right of informed adults to choose the most appropriate mix of HIV prevention options for their lives as part of a truly comprehensive approach to testing, treatment, care and prevention.”

JUNE 2014

In addition to providing guidelines and tools to assist providers in effectively prescribing and supporting PrEP use, CDC and other organizations are conducting pilot implementation studies and demonstration projects throughout the country. These projects aim to identify the most effective ways to deliver PrEP in community settings that can reach those at high risk for HIV infection.

OUTANDABOUTNASHVILLE.COM

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WE’VE COME A LONG

WAY

A YEAR IN MARRIAGE EQUALITY The landscape for marriage equality is changing fast. There are ten additional states with stayed rulings, striking either full or partial parts of their states’ law, awaiting appeal.

Additionally, there are 10 more states with full or partial marriage equality ban facing appeal. Compare the July 2013 Marriage Equality Map here with our current map on the next page.

44

%

OF AMERICANS NOW LIVE IN A STATE

STATES WITH CIVIL UNIONS / DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIPS

MARRIAGE BANS (PARTIAL OR FULL) RULED UNCONSTITUTIONAL / APPEAL RULINGS PENDING

STATES WITH MARRIAGE EQUALITY

STATES WITH SAME-SEX MARRIAGE BANS

WITH MARRIAGE

EQUALITY ON THE BOOKS .

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JUNE 2014

tnep.org

MARRIAGE EQUALITY IMPACT MAP June 2014

1. Arkansas

On May 9, 2014, Judge Chris Piazza of Arkansas upheld same-sex couples’ freedom to marry by striking down the state’s discriminatory constitutional amendment in a case filed in state court on behalf of more than 20 same-sex couples.

“It has been over 40 years since Mildred Loving was given the right to marry the person of her choice,” Piazza wrote, referencing the landmark 1967 Supreme Court ruling overturning all bans on interracial marriage. “The hatred and fears have long since vanished and she and her husband lived full lives together; so it will be for the same-sex couples. It is time to let that beacon of freedom shine brighter on all our brothers and sisters. We will be stronger for it.”

Piazza did not issue a stay in his ruling - and same-sex couples married in the state for the next week. On Friday, May 16, the Arkansas Supreme Court issued a stay as the state’s appeal proceeds.

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2. Oregon

Declaring the ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, a federal judge struck down Oregon’s 2004 voterapproved constitutional amendment on May 19.

In a unique scenario, there was no defense in this case after state officials refused to defend the ban in February. National Organization of Marriage (NOM) tried to step up on behalf of its Oregon members but in early May, U.S. District Judge Michael McShane denied NOM the standing to defend the case. They filed an appeal but before McShane’s ruling on May 19, the Ninth U.S. District Court of Appeals denied NOM’s motion appealing that ruling.

Without a stay, McShane’s ruling went into effect immediately.

3. Alaska

Despite a current case in the Alaskan Supreme Court, whereas the court is being asked to decide whether a same-sex partner is entitled to survivor benefits, five same-sex couples filed a federal lawsuit challenging the state’s ban on same-sex marriage on May 12.

4. Georgia

On April 22, 2014, Lambda Legal filed a federal lawsuit seeking the freedom to marry in Georgia and respect for out-of state marriages. The case’s plaintiffs include three couples who wish to marry in Georgia and a widow arguing that Georgia state officials denied respect for her marriage for the purpose of being listed on the partner’s death certificate.

STATES WITH CIVIL UNIONS / DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIPS

MARRIAGE BANS (PARTIAL OR FULL) RULED UNCONSTITUTIONAL / APPEAL RULINGS PENDING

STATES WITH MARRIAGE EQUALITY

STATES WITH SAME-SEX MARRIAGE BANS

6. Pennsylvania

5. Idaho

On May 13, 2014, a federal district court in Boise issued a decision striking down Idaho’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples and ordering the state to allow same-sex couples to marry in Idaho and to recognize the marriages of couples who married in other states. The court’s order was to take effect at 9:00 a.m. Mountain time on May 16.

Two days later, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit granted a temporary stay of the federal judge’s ruling that ordered marriage equality in Idaho.

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A federal judge struck down Pennsylvania’s ban on same-sex marriage on May 20, thus making it the latest state in a string of May marriage equality victories. Judge John Jones declared the ban unconstitutional and said such laws should tossed “into the ash heap of history.”

Pennsylvania’s Attorney General Kathleen Kane announced in July of 2013 that she would not defend the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. After hiring outside counsel to defend the ban, Governor Tom Corbett declined to appeal the ruling on May 21.

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Nashville Pride Awards celebrate local leaders, activists, and volunteers JOSEPH BROWNELL

Each year Nashville Pride celebrates those in the community that are integral in helping bring together the massive celebration. This year’s honorees will be awarded at the Curb Records Pre-Party, June 12 at Pour House Burgers.

‘‘

AS NASHVILLE PRIDE GROWS, SO DOES THE SWELL OF SUPPORT FROM COMMUNITY AND BUSINESS LEADERS, SAID NASHVILLE PRIDE BOARD MEMBER JOEY LESLIE. WHILE WE’RE CERTAINLY KICKING OFF THE FESTIVAL YOU’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR AT THE CURB RECORDS PRE-PRIDE PARTY AT POUR HOUSE BURGERS,

WE’LL ALSO RECOGNIZE THE OUTSTANDING COMMUNITY, BUSINESS AND POLITICAL LEADERS, WHOSE EFFORTS HAVE CONTRIBUTED SIGNIFICANTLY TO THE LEVEL OF SUCCESS THAT NASHVILLE PRIDE WILL ENJOY IN 2014.

‘‘

This year’s Mark Middleton/Bianca Paige Pride Volunteer Award will be presented to Randall Roop. Randall’s constant dedication to Nashville Pride, as both a former board President and current vital volunteer, embodies Mark Middleton’s passion for and commitment to the LGBT community and Nashville’s annual Pride Festival. Randall currently is the Assistant Director of Sales and Marketing for Millennium Maxwell House Hotel.

Dwayne Jenkins will receive this year’s Mark Manasco Community Service Award. Whether in his near two-decade career at Nashville CARES or as Founder and President of Nashville Black Pride or his role as Executive Director of Brothers United Network, Dwayne matches Manasco’s devotion to community service and LGBT organizations.

This year’s Philanthropic Business Award will recognize both Jack Davis (JD Events and Festivals) and Jenn Garrett (Solve Solutions).

Jack Davis, owner and founder of JD Events and Festivals, serves not only as Festival Director for Nashville Pride but several other area festivals including last month’s Sevier Park Fest. Jack has provided invaluable contributions with his more than decade of service on the Nashville Pride Board.

With more than 20 years of combined real estate and marketing experience, Jenn Garrett, President of Solve, LLC, brings her unique perspective to an impressive public service history that includes Nashville Pride Board and Tennessee Human Right Commission service. As the Managing Partner of Village Property Management and a part of the Village Real Estate Development Services team, Garrett has personally worked with over 200 real estate agents in various marketing and sales capacities. She is also the past President of the Nashville American Marketing Association, a past member of the Middle Tennessee Postal Council, and serves on the Marketing Design team for Nashville Center for Spiritual Living.

This year’s Rising Stars Awards will be presented to Gerrard Wesson, Joseph Brownell and Robert “Bobby” Thompson. Each recipient is recognized for their outstanding efforts and dedication to the success of the 2014 festival and Pride’s mission to educate and maintain a sense of pride, community and awareness of, about and for LGBT people and culture in Middle Tennessee.

GERRARD WESSON

JACK DAVIS

ROBERT BOBBY THOMPSON

JAMES RANDALL ROOP

JOSEPH BROWNELL Finally, Nashville Pride will recognize the Metro Council and Vice Mayor Diane Neighbors for their efforts to extend employment benefits to same sex partners of Metro employees with their annual Ally Award. The council members leading this effort include Personnel Committee members Peter Westerholm, Brady Banks, Megan Barry, and Lonnell Matthews, as well as Vice Mayor Diane Neighbors.

Tickets for the Curb Records PreParty are $20 and can be purchased at nashvillepride.org.

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Alarming and progressive trends in the 2013 Tennessee Hate Crimes report

Reported hate crimes up, anti-transgender bias hate crime included for first time JOSEPH BROWNELL

The 23-page 2013 Tennessee Hate Crimes Report, issued by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) last month, showcases both alarming and progressive trends for Tennessee’s LGBT communities.

According to the report, hate crimes with an anti-sexual bias against the LGBT community rose for the third year in a row to 45. Those numbers are up from 41 in 2012 and 37 in 2011.

The 2013 report marks the first time that hate crimes with antibisexual and anti-transgender bias have been included in the state report.

Totaling three reported cases (2 antibisexual; 1 anti-transgender) out of 45, Tennessee transgender activists are still concerned that we’re not clearly identifying hate crimes against our transgender community.

“It’s a positive first step” said Marisa Richmond, Secretary of the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition (TTPC). “We are still concerned that many hate crimes based on gender non-conformity are being missed, or folded into other categories.

We still feel that more needs to be done, but this does appear to be a positive first step. A problem must first be identified before it can be addressed.”

According to the National Center for Transgender Equality, only 11 states currently have hate crime laws that include gender identity and expression.

Richmond says that “adding ‘gender identity or expression’ to the Tennessee Sentencing Enhancement Act and better training of law enforcement about hate crimes against transgender people, are definite next steps.”

On the federal level, in 2009 President Barack Obama signed the Matthew Shepard & James Byrd, Jr. Act, which extended the Federal Hate Crimes law with gender identity and in April 2014, the Department of Education said that transgender students were protected under Title IX. Other highlights from the 2013 report: •In 2013, the number of Damage/ destruction/Vandalism hate crime offenses increased 27.9%, including five anti-LGBT offenses. Two of those five were reported from Vanderbilt University.

•Simple Assault was the most frequently reported bias motivated offense. This includes 10 anti-LGBT offenses.

You can read the entire report at tbi.state.tn.us

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the 19th // HRC MUNICIPAL EQUALITY

INDEX REPORTS ON FOUR TENNESSEE CITIES

Less than two weeks after last year’s Nashville Pride festival, a divided Supreme Court issued the struggle for marriage equality its biggest boost yet. On June 26, 2013, a ruling in United States vs. Windsor struck down keys parts of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

While the decision left many unanswered questions, it began a domino effect in our struggle for equality. Over the past year, marriage bans across the US have been declared unconstitutional and while Tennessee’s ban still stands— looking around it’s only a matter of time until that falls as well.

But equality is more than marriage equality and Tennesseans from across The Volunteer State have stood up for their rights. From fighting for partner benefits to suing the state for recognition of out-of-state marriages, here are the highlights in Tennessee equality in the past year!

2013

the 5th // COLLEGEDALE, TN EXTENDS

SAME-SEX PARTNER BENEFITS

Collegedale, Tennessee becomes first city in Tennessee to vote in favor of extending same-sex partner benefits to its employees.

The move was due largely in part to the efforts of then Collegedale Police Detective Kat Cooper who lobbied for benefits for her wife.

They were legally wed in Maryland.

CONTROVERSY FOLLOWS REMOVAL OF GLSEN SAFE SPACE POSTER

July 22, 2013

KNOX COUNTY PASSES NON-DISCRIMINATION ORDINANCE

Knox County Commission passes an amendment to their non-discrimination ordinance that includes sexual orientation and gender identity. Sponsored by Commissioner Amy Broyles, Knox County becomes the fourth local government in Tennessee to protect its government employees from job discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, following Metro Nashville in 2009, the City of Knoxville in 2012, and the City of Memphis in 2012.

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In late August, ACLU and ACLU-TN sends a letter to Rutherford County Board of Education urging that a removed GLSEN Safe Space poster be replaced.

The posters identify classrooms as spaces where all students can feel safe from bullying and harassment, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

The school board, speaking through its attorney via telephone, claims that the poster’s content is of an inappropriate sexual nature because it contains the words “lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender.”

Despite efforts from TEP that continue well past September and community activists, the school board votes on September 4 to uphold its decision.

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JUNE 2014

HRC releases a report on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) equality in America’s cities, rating 291 cities across the nation, including 4 cities in Tennessee.

The 2013 Municipal Equality Index (MEI) is the second edition of the only nationwide rating system of LGBT inclusion in municipal law. This year’s index finds that cities across the country, including in Tennessee, continued to prove that municipalities will act to support equality for LGBT people, even where states and the federal government have failed to do so.

The average score for cities in Tennessee is 39 out of 100 points, which falls below the national average of 57.

Chattanooga scored 15 points, Knoxville scored 38 points, Memphis scored 40 points, and Nashville scored 61 points. the 7th // COUPLES APPLY FOR (AND ARE DENIED) TENNESSEE MARRIAGE

LICENSES

Davidson County couple Jef Laudieri and Will Peyton are among the first in the state to apply for (and be denied) a Tennessee state marriage license on August 7, 2013.

Joined by Bellevue couple Renee Kasman and Nina Pacent, who were legally married in New York, these two couples and others in Shelby County were part of a coordinated effort by the Tennessee Equality Project (TEP).

the 30th // MARRIAGE EQUALITY DAY

RALLIES ACROSS TENNESSEE

In response to Tennessee Senate Joint Resolution 134 declaring August 31 “ido4life Traditional Marriage Day,” TEP coordinates Marriage Equality Day events across Tennessee including Nashville, Cookeville, Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga and Madison County.

TEP also issues a proclamation stating that “the best way to uphold the value of marriage in our state is to open this venerable institution to committed, loving couples regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

the 21st // TN COUPLES ASK FOR

IMMEDIATE PROTECTIONS

Legally married same-sex couples who recently filed a federal lawsuit challenging Tennessee’s refusal to respect their marriages asked the court for immediate protection of their families while the lawsuit proceeds.

The couples argue that such an order is necessary because Tennessee’s refusal to respect their marriages is putting their families at risk of serious harms. For example, Dr. Tanco and Dr. Jesty are expecting a child want to ensure that both parents will be respected and can make decisions and protect and care for their child. the 19th //

CHATTANOOGA PASSES BENEFITS LEGISLATION FOR SAME-SEX COUPLES

Chattanooga City Council votes 5-3 in favor of Extended Benefits and Equity Ordinance, proposed by Councilman Chris Anderson. The legislation extends health benefits to the domestic partners of city employees, including those in same-sex relationships. A second component adds sexual orientation and gender identity to the city’s nondiscrimination policy.

Citizens for Government Accountability and Transparency, a conservative group, challenges the legislation.

the 2nd // CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS

REQUEST COMMITTEE TO EXPLORE METRO SAME-SEX BENEFITS

More than two dozen city council members sign a memo to Mayor Karl Dean’s office urging them to initiate the formation of a committee to explore to same-sex partner benefits for Metrocity employees. the 16th // KNOXVILLE

TO EXTEND BENEFITS TO SAME-SEX COUPLES

Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero announces the city is expanding its employee benefits for qualified domestic partners.

the 1st //

BENEFITS FOR SAMESEX COUPLES BEGIN FOR KNOXVILLE EMPLOYEES

FOUR SAMESEX COUPLES FILE MARRIAGE LAWSUIT IN TENNESSEE

the 21st //

On October 21, four Tennessee same-sex couples, legally married in other states, file a lawsuit in federal district court challenging the Tennessee laws that prevent the state from recognizing their marriages and treating them the same as all other legally married couples in Tennessee.

The couples are Dr. Valeria Tanco and Dr. Sophy Jesty of Knoxville; Army Reserve Sergeant First Class Ijpe DeKoe and Thom Kostura of Memphis ; Kellie Miller and Vanessa DeVillez of Greenbrier (later leave the lawsuit); and Matthew Mansell and Johno Espejo of Franklin.

The couples are represented by Nashville attorneys Abby R. Rubenfeld, William Harbison, Scott Hickman, Phil Cramer and John Farringer of the law firm of Sherrard & Roe, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), and attorneys Maureen T. Holland of Memphis and Regina Lambert of Knoxville.

Read our interviews with the couples beginning on page 44.

the 5th // CONTROVERSIAL SB2566

(AKA TURN THE GAYS AWAY) INTRODUCED

Introduced by Senator Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown), SB2566 would “permit persons and religious or denominational organizations, based on sincere religious belief, to refuse to provide services or goods in furtherance of a civil union, domestic partnership, or marriage not recognized by the Tennessee Constitution.” the 14th // SEN. BRIAN

KELSEY DROPS SPONSORSHIP OF SB2566

the 13th // RECALL EFFORTS AGAINST CHRIS ANDERSON APPROVED

Sen. Brian Kelsey drops his support for SB2566, aka ‘Turn the Gays Away’ bill.

Mike Bell (R-Riceville) sponsors the bill. the 18th // SB2566 DEFEATED After a surge of media attention and nearly 75 red-clad equality supporters packed into the Senate Judicial Committee hearing, SB2566, coined the ‘Turn the Gays Away’ bill, is pushed back to subcommittee.

The Hamilton County Election Commission unanimously votes to approve a petition to allow District 7 residents to recall councilman Chris Anderson, the openly gay city councilman who sponsored the push for same-sex partner benefits for Chattanooga City employees.

the 18th // CHRIS ANDERSON FILES LAWSUIT TO STOP RECALL EFFORT Less than a week after the Hamilton County Election Commission approved a petition to recall Chris Anderson, Anderson files a lawsuit claiming the recall is discriminatory and unconstitutional.

TENNESSEE BABY BECOMES THE FIRST TO HAVE TWO MOTHERS LISTED ON BIRTH CERTIFICATE

Emilia Maria Jesty, born to Dr. Valeria Tanco and Dr. Sophy Jesty, two of the plaintiffs involved in the Tennessee lawsuit for recognition of their out-of- state marriages, becomes the first child in Tennessee with two mothers on their birth certificate. Since Tennessee birth certificates are not gender neutral, Jesty is listed as “father.” the 14th //

TN COUPLES RECEIVE FIRST LEGAL WIN

U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger issues a preliminary injunction stopping Tennessee from enforcing the state laws that prohibit the recognition of the Tennessee couples involved in the legal battle for recognition of their out-of-state marriages. This injunction only applies to the three samesex couples named in the lawsuit and is only preliminary while their case makes it way through the federal court system. The state files a motion to stay Trauger’s decision.

Spouses of Knoxville city employees can begin to sign up for medical, dental, vision and dependent life same-sex partner benefits. the 8th // CHATTANOOGA

SAME-SEX PARTNER BENEFITS MOVES TO BALLOT

After a petition with more than 7,000 valid signatures was presented to the Chattanooga City Council, they decide not to vote for a repeal effectively sending same-sex partner benefits to voters on the 2014 August ballot.

the 20th // JUDGE REFUSES TO STAY PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

Judge Aleta Trauger tells Tennessee state officials that recognizing three couples’ marriages would not cause the state irreparable harm and refuses their request to stay her initial decision granting recognition of the couples’ out-of-state marriages.

LET’S KEEP ON GOING! JUNE 2014

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the 30th // MAYOR’S STATE OF METRO

HIGHLIGHTS DOMESTIC PARTNER BENEFITS

In his seventh State of Metro address, Mayor Karl Dean continues three guiding principles for the city’s budget: keeping taxes low, prioritizing public services and continuing to invest in our future.

Part of investing in the future of Nashville includes Mayor Dean highlighting the move for filing domestic partner benefits legislation.

the 25th // TENNESSEE COURT DECISION STAYED

A federal appeals court issues a stay in March’s ruling that Tennessee must recognize the out-of-state marriages of three same-sex couples.

In its ruling, the court says that it was in the public interest to transfer “this case to a merits panel for expedited consideration––so that the merits panel can assess whether a stay should remain in effect, and address the substantive issues in this case.”

VENUE REFUSES TO HOST SAMESEX COMMITMENT CEREMONY FOR TN MILITARY VETERAN COUPLE

Mint Springs Farm, a private ceremony venue south of Nashville makes headlines after telling Anthony Wilfert and his partner Brian Blas, two Tennessee Iraq war veterans, that they would not be able to hold their commitment ceremony on their grounds.

Shortly after the news breaks, the venue announces a new policy and offers their services to the couple free of charge. The couple declines. the 14 // KNOXVILLE CITY-COUNTY

BUILDING EVACUATED FOR BOMB THREAT

After receiving an email threatening to blow up a Knoxville government building, both Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero and Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett call for the building to be evacuated. Police report that the threat came from a citizen upset with Knoxville’s inclusive policies—including its support of the Knoxville PrideFest parade. the 8th // TENNESSEE GOVERNOR AND ATTORNEY GENERAL FILE NEW BRIEF CHALLENGING COURT DECISION the 6th “This case is not about how the debate // CHRIS about same-sex marriage should be resolved.

ANDERSON RECALL It is about who may resolve it,” said Governor CAMPAIGN STALLS Bill Haslam and Attorney General Robert E.

A three-month campaign to recall Councilman Chris Anderson fails after Hamilton County Election officials confirm the efforts to recall Anderson falls short of the mandated 1,600. the 6th // NASHVILLE’S FIRST OPENLY

GAY COUNCILMAN MARRIES IN CALIFORNIA

Days after Mayor Karl Dean highlighted domestic partner benefits in his State of Metro address, openly gay Metro employee Keith Durbin married his long-time partner in California.

Durbin, who became the first openly gay city councilman in 2007, currently serves as the head of the Metro Information Technology Services.

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Cooper in appellate brief asking the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to undo the previous ruling forcing Tennessee to recognize samesex marriages from other states.

The challenge is noteworthy because it seized upon a ruling from Justice Anthony Kennedy (issued just last month) that defended the rights of voters to decide sensitive issues. Justice Kennedy wrote the majority opinion in United States v. Windsor

the 20th // METRO SAME-SEX PARTNER BENEFITS LEGISLATION PASSES FIRST COUNCIL READING

Metro City employees and their same-sex partners took another large step in securing benefits when legislation first announced in October receives and passes it’s first Metro Council reading.

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JUNE 2014

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TENNESSEE TRANSGENDER POLITICAL COALITION Every day members of the Greater-Nashville LGBT community are working locally, regionally and nationally to advance equality and raise awareness in Tennessee.

Celebrate the accomplishments and look ahead at the goals of some of our city’s treasured organizations.

HOTMESS SPORTS hotmesssports.com Derrick Lachney- Founder

ORGANIZATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

Since last Pride, HotMess Sports has completed two more seasons of kickball and also traveled to Las Vegas in January for The Sin City Shoot Out, placing 5th in the kickball tournament. Also in January, they introduced their first season of HotMess Dodgeball to huge excitement.

LOOKING AHEAD

HotMess Kickball continues their activities planning to attend a July tournament in Washington DC, as well as celebrating their 5th season and second year in September. Also, keep your eyes peeled for the 2015 HotMess Calendar as well as possible expansion to two additional cities.

PRIDE MEMORIES

“My favorite Pride memory would be two years ago. I was in the beginning stages of starting HotMess for the fall of 2012 and I made like 10 of my friends wear HotMess t-shirts that I had ordered and hand out flyers to promote the league and everyone was looking at us like we were crazy, like kickball was stupid. It’s funny to see where we are at now. I’m happy that Nashville has embraced this organization like it has.”

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ttgpac.com Marisa Richmond- Secretary

ORGANIZATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

MUSICCITY SISTERS

musiccitysisters.org Sister Ann Wenita Morelove- Music City Sisters Abbess

ORGANIZATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

We’ll get in trouble if we attempt to list all of their events from 2013 because we’re sure to leave something out. Just be aware that the Music City Sisters have raised and given away more money to local LGBT (mostly) organizations than you can shake a fan at.

Actually, a Sisters do not lie. They didn’t raise the money, Nashville did.

And on behalf of organizations like the Oasis Center, Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition, the Integrated Health Cooperative, Nashville CARES, Mr. Friendly, and more, they thank you!

Just as important, the Music City Sisters made countless people smile and maybe even laugh as they worked to inspire joy and end stigmatic guilt in Middle Tennessee. They listened to folks’ stories and hopefully brought a little healing when they encountered hurt. They encouraged members of the community to make safer choices for themselves and those they love in regards to sexual practice.

LOOKING AHEAD

In the coming year, they will keep on keeping on! As their numbers continue to grow, expect to see the Sisters out and about even more, inspiring joy and ending stigmatic guilt when they can, all while looking as fabulous as those whom they encounter.

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JUNE 2014

TTPC took a team to Washington to participate in the Annual Transgender Congressional Lobby Days. They visited six Congressional offices on these visits, and followed up with additional visits to local Congressional offices in Tennessee.

TTPC worked to implement trans inclusive non-discrimination policies at Service Master and Rhodes College as well as having a team of trans activists and supporters at Advancing Equality Day on the Hill.

TTPC also presented at out-of-state meetings, including Equality Federation (Salt Lake City), Southern Comfort (Atlanta), Coca-Cola Headquarters (Atlanta), Western Kentucky University, National Association of Independent Schools (National Harbor, Maryland), Creating Change (Houston), and Murray State University.

TTPC also hosted the Board Meeting of the National Center for Transgender Equality and held two successful fundraisers in October 2013 and March 2014.

Finally, TTPC helped write and introduce two new bills in the Tennessee General Assembly: the Dignity for All Students Act and the Tennessee NonDiscrimination Act.

LOOKING AHEAD

TTPC looks forward to continuing the work of advancing equality for all Tennesseans at the federal, state, and local levels, as well as with private employers. They’ve already begun work with some of the private institutions of higher learning, as well as with two State level cabinet agencies to see that trans people in Tennessee are treated with dignity and respect. They also look forward to seeing the reintroduction of the Birth Certificate Fairness Act and passage of the Transgender Hate Crimes Act.

nashvillecares.org Patrick Hamilton- Chief Development Officer

ORGANIZATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS In 2013, Nashville CARES celebrated our most successful AIDS Walk & 5K Run ever! Thanks to the generous support of the community over $230,000 was raised to support our work.

CARES managed a statewide program to enroll over 700 HIV+ individuals in marketplace insurance plans (600 of who had never had insurance) as a part of the Affordable Care Act. CARES also opened their CARES Café- designed especially for people living with HIV who are looking for support and resources to live a healthier, happier life.

LOOKING AHEAD

CARES recently completed a strategic planning process that will change the paradigm of our work to truly help us work toward ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic. They are also preparing for this year’s AIDS Walk on October 4, 2014 at Riverfront Park.

PRIDE MEMORIES

“As an organization it is always encouraging to see the line of people at the Nashville CARES booth wanting to get their free and confidential HIV test. The last several years, CARES has conducted over 200 HIV tests at Pride. People who know their HIV status have the information they need to modify their behavior to protect themselves and others.”

HRCNASHVILLE hrctn.org Blake Brockway- Membership Outreach Chair

oasiscenter.org/just-us.html Pam Sheffer- Program Director

ORGANIZATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

The Students of Stonewall youth leadership team launched into action on August 1, 2013 with 8 high school students and 4 college mentors. These young social justice activists focused on researching eight core areas of disparity for LGBT youth and/or adults: Self Acceptance & Empowerment, Safe Schools, Family Acceptance, Adult & Peer Education, Civil & Human Rights, Access to Quality Health Care, Open & Affirming Faith Community, and Access to Safe Housing. In addition to doing extensive research on these key issues, these young leaders planned and participated in 12 different community education and action events to begin the process of creating a cultural climate change for LGBT citizens in Nashville.

LOOKING AHEAD

During the 2014-2015 school year, the Students of Stonewall will participate in a week long “Social Justice Boot Camp” to prepare them for a very action-oriented school year. These young leaders will be targeting specific initiatives for change that they will research and development and then execute with community partners. One specific area of interest will be in the development of an awareness campaign around the alarming rate of LGBT youth who smoke and how the tobacco industry is specifically targeting LGBT people in their marketing and advertising efforts.

PRIDE MEMORIES “Last year at Pride, the Youth

Pavilion really started to take shape and we had so many young people come out to experience their very first Pride event. We participated in the Equality Walk and our young people really started to understand that the LGBT community is strong and proud in Nashville. It was very exciting to see them so happy and engaged.”

ORGANIZATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

Since Pride last year, HRCNashville has exceeded its membership goal for the year by 60%. In March 2014, they held one of their most successful Gala’s in HRC Nashville history. They were very honored to have HRC president Chad Griffin, 80s pop star Tiffany, and Chris Carmack from ABC’s Nashville in attendance at our 2014 Gala.

Also in March, their committee went to Washington DC for the 2014 HRC Equality Convention. HRC Nashville brought home awards for their Membership Outreach Program for outstanding work during their Pride season membership drive as well as their first HER HRC event, which focuses on the empowerment of women in the LGBT community.

Steering Committee members Tom Coffman and Jenny Ford were also recognized for their work in the Federal Club member enrollment program for the past year.

PRIDE MEMORIES

?

“The best part about Pride is seeing all of your friends come together to celebrate the beauty of our community.

HRC has given me a voice and a platform to connect with others and change hearts and minds. When working our booths at Pride, you can physically have a conversation with someone and see a light bulb go off in their mind; it is the best feeling anyone can ever get.”

LOOKING AHEAD

in need of debt relief

In the upcoming year, HRC Nashville is looking forward to another successful membership drive during the Pride season, representing at not only Nashville Pride but in other cities such as Knoxville, Memphis and Chattanooga.

In the coming months, HRC Nashville will be working with our local committee in Atlanta on a campaign for Council Anderson in Chattanooga as well extending their work with HRC’s Project One America in our sister states Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas.

NASHVILLEGRIZZLIES grizzliesrugby.org John Bledsoe: President

ORGANIZATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

The Nashville Grizzlies have just completed a very busy and productive spring season. With the help of their players and supporters, they hosted several teams this season, and traveled to Memphis, Atlanta, and Charlotte as well. They participated in a number of tournaments in which they played teams from as far away as South Carolina, Ohio, and Colorado. Since their founding in 2006, they’ve always striven to build and better the team, welcoming players at all experience levels and integrating everyone into what has become one diverse team.

Overall, they had a successful season, with some wins and some losses, but always bringing the same Grizzlies spirit!

LOOKING AHEAD

At the end of August, the Grizzlies are making their biggest leap yet, traveling to Australia to complete in the Bingham Cup hosted by the Sydney Convicts on behalf of the International Gay Rugby Association and Board (IGRAB). The Grizzlies have participated in the Bingham Cup every two years since 2008, and it is the opportunity of a lifetime, to meet and play against ruggers from all over the globe. That will lead them into what will be another busy fall season when they return to practices in July.

JUNE 2014

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TENNESSEE EQUALITY PROJECT tnequalityproject.org Chris Sanders- Executive Director

ORGANIZATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

In August 2013, TEP held Tennessee Marriage Equality Day rallies around the state that drew big crowds and national attention.

The TEP Hamilton County Committee worked for the Chattanooga partner benefits/nondiscrimination ordinance.

This legislative session, TEP stopped the Turn the Gays Away bill before it even received a committee vote and in April, they successfully negotiated an inclusive policy change with Mint Springs Farm in Nolensville, Tennessee.

LOOKING AHEAD

TEP is fighting for partner benefits for Metro Nashville government employees and preparing to help defend Chattanooga partner benefits/ non-discrimination ordinance from a ballot repeal measure.

They are also reworking the campaign to pass the Dignity for All Students Act in the Legislature and laying the groundwork for the first day of marriage equality in Tennessee through our Tennessee Ready for Marriage on Day One.

‘‘

PRIDE MEMORIES

IT WOULD HAVE TO BE THE YEAR MY MOTHER ATTENDED WITH ME AND MET SO MANY OF MY FRIENDS. SHE WORKED A SHIFT AT THE TEP BOOTH.

‘‘

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nashvillelgbtchamber.org Lisa Howe- Executive Director

ORGANIZATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

Over the last year, the Nashville LGBT Chamber of Commerce has been adding and branding benefits and programs that fit the diverse needs of their members at different levels.

Brewing up Business, their face-toface networking program, averages 50 in attendance each month. Pride in Business, mainly geared toward corporate level members who have Employee Resource Groups, has allowed leaders of ERG’s to share best practices and benefit from each others’ experiences.

The Chamber’s mobile website is an additional benefit for our retailers and restaurants and members in travel/tourism.

The LGBT Chamber Building Business Series partnered with MassMutual is a professional development program, which covers a variety of topics to help members advance their careers. Finally, the 2014 Excellence in Business Awards presented by CURB Records was a big success.

LOOKING AHEAD

The LGBT Chamber is looking to continue building relationships in the Nashville business community. Whether they establish new relationships with the Nashville Area Chamber, the mayor’s Office of Economic Development, the Entrepreneur Center or deepen their existing relationships with the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp or Nashville Hispanic Chamber, they are always looking for collaborations that will add value for their members.

The LGBT Chamber, with the help of their Supplier Diversity Initiative Partner Waller, wants to certify more LGBT-owned businesses this year.

The LGBT Chamber’s next membership drive will be based on marriage equality and their LGBT Chamber directory will be the place to go to find any of your wedding needs.

PRIDE MEMORIES

“The whole reason I am on the Nashville Pride Board is because of an experience I had at my first Pride event in Atlanta in 2002. I was barely out to myself. You know that stage for some people where you are attracted to, or in love with, a person of the same gender, but you have not bought into all of the other evidence that says you are LGBT. That is where I was in my coming out process. I thought there were only about 150 gay people in the world and I had played soccer with or against most of them, so when I went to Atlanta Pride, I was shocked to say the least. Amongst the bikinis, tutus, coconut bras, leather kilts, and assless chaps, I didn’t really think I fit in. I wondered, ‘Can I be gay if I don’t like Pride?’ Between musical performances, they would have speakers. The speakers would usually talk about coming out or being out and being proud. I could not see the stage, but I could hear a man speaking. He was talking about sports and competition and family and discipline. I could identify with what he was saying, so I moved where I could see him on the stage. He looked like an athlete. He was dressed like I would dress. He was saying things that made me feel comfortable and better about myself. His name was Esera Tuaolo, and he played in the NFL for the Atlanta Falcons and was retired. His five-minute speech was exactly what I needed to hear at that moment; that experience made me a true believer that Pride in any city can change a person’s life. Whether one identifies with the person wearing the coconut bra or the assless chaps, the jock, the drag queen, the PFLAG President, or the dyke on a bike I believe in the power of Pride, and I want to help provide that kind of opportunity for others.”

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JUNE 2014

pflagnashville.org Kathy Halbrooks- President

ORGANIZATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

On May 13, PFLAG-Nashville cosponsored the showing of the documentary TWO: The Story of Roman and Nyro. The event, held at the Belcourt Theater, was a fundraiser for us, Abintra Montessori School, and the Jewish Family Service.

PFLAG-Nashville also cohosted the 2014 Tennessee-Kentucky PFLAG Conference with PFLAG Tri-Cities at the Oasis Center on May 17.

Throughout the year, PFLAG Nashville looks for ways to join in with other organizations to promote equality and to let people know they are there if needed,. Over the past year, they participated in H8’s a DRAG, Stomp H8, and the NAMI Walk.

LOOKING AHEAD

PFLAG Nashville will continue to be active in events as often as possible. One of their main goals is to get the word out that we exist as a support group for families and friends of and people themselves who need encouragement with issues dealing with sexual orientation and gender identity. They’ve have signed on supporting TEP’s work to get partner benefits for employees of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County and will work to help move forward any legislation that promotes equality.”

PRIDE MEMORIES

“I was not involved with PFLAG when Gene Floyd, our chapter’s founder, was Grand Marshal of the PRIDE parade, but that is one memory that many who knew her hold dear. I had the pleasure of knowing Gene after I joined PFLAG, and she is one of my role models. She passed away in November 2012, but her amazing spirit can be seen in the photo of her leading the parade and cheering for equality.”

VANDERBILT HIV VACCINE PROGRAM

GLSEN MIDDLE TENNESSEE

vanderbilthealth.com/HIV-vaccine-program/ Vic Sorrell: Community Educator/Recruiter

ORGANIZATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

ORGANIZATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

2013 included several successes for the Vanderbilt HIV Vaccine Program such as a first for Nashville, a co-sponsored, community forum about PrEP, Project PrEPared. For this event the program partnered with ASO, Street Works, and the LGBTQI community center, OutCentral, to educate and answer questions about PrEP in the Nashville community. The event drew record attendance for a community event at OutCentral and included a panel discussion with representation from the largest ASO in Tennessee, Nashville CARES, as well as Gilead Pharmaceuticals, The Music City Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, The Tennessee Association of People With AIDS and Vanderbilt University Medical Center Department of Infectious Diseases. Toward the end of the year, we learned that our clinical research site has been refunded by the National Institutes of Health to continue its research for another seven years at Vanderbilt!

So far in 2014, another co-sponsored community education event at OutCentral, Transmission Impossible, which included the expertise of TAPWA (Tennessee Association of People With AIDS) Educational Liaison, Mark Hubbard, as well as Nashville CARES HIV Prevention Educators, Dwayne Jenkins and Quoc Lam. After data from the PARTNER study was presented in March at the acclaimed Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), Transmission Impossible provided an opportunity for a local dialog around the findings. So far, the study has found no linked HIV transmissions in over 750 couples in which one partner is HIV+positive with an undetectable viral load and the other is HIV-negative, despite their reporting a total of around 44,000 instances of condomless intercourse.

LOOKING AHEAD

glsen.org/chapters/middletn Justin Sweatman-Weaver- Student Organizing Committee Chair

In late summer, the Vanderbilt HIV Vaccine Program will begin enrolling a new Phase I clinical trial in Nashville, HVTN 105 (www.hvtn.org) with an additional HVTN Phase I study slated for enrollment before the end of the year. And the program recently welcomed Robbie Maris, formerly of Street Works, as Community Educator/Recruiter and will soon bid farewell to Vic Sorrell who has served the program as Community Educator/Recruiter for over four years. We look forward to Robbie’s leadership experience serving us well as we continue to serve the Nashville community in 2014 and beyond!

GLSEN Middle Tennessee has been in a state of constant transition and steady growth since 2013 Pride.

Under new leadership at both the local and national level, much of their time and energy has been spent developing new and innovative ideas and programs to support students across Middle Tennessee in the safe schools movement. This year their chapter, spearheaded by the youth of our Jump-Start Student Leadership Team, hosted an Ally Week celebration at Anode in partnership with the LGBT Chamber of Commerce and coordinated a day-long summit of LGBT students at OutCentral in recognition of Day of Silence. Our students and adult chapter members have given presentations at the Tennessee Conference on Volunteerism and Service Learning, MTSU’s LGBT Collegiate Conference, and the Bully-Free Tennessee Conference at Tennessee Tech. This year they were also fortunate enough to assist in the development of three new gay straight alliances in rural communities where the challenges seem insurmountable, making the celebrations of triumph even sweeter. Their leaders also represented the interests of Middle Tennessee at the National Safe Schools Roundtable in Portland, Oregon and Creating Change.

LOOKING AHEAD

GLSEN’s mission of creating safe and supportive schools for all students in Middle Tennessee regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity will come to life in new and exciting ways in the coming year. Their chapter will have an increased focus on providing professional development for educators and administrators in outlying communities and reaching hundreds of students through partnerships with statewide youth-serving organizations.

outcentral.org Robbie Maris- Board Chair Patrick Boggs- Board Vice Chair

ORGANIZATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

Immediately after Pride last year, OutCentral held their largest Gay 5k ever. For their annual Autumn Honors program, they honored eight individuals worthy of highlight due to service to the Nashville LGBT community at large. Already in 2014, they’ve have welcomed a new tenant, the Tennessee Equality Project, and continue to feature ongoing programming as an epicenter for Nashville’s LGBT community.

LOOKING AHEAD

This year’s Gay 5K takes place in Shelby Bottoms Park on June 28.

PRIDE MEMORIES

“I remember last year’s walk. It was the first walk that Pride had held in many years. This increased our visibility beyond the borders of the park and into the public eye much more than any other Pride.”

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FRIDAY, JUNE 13 Pride will start to rock with Pride in Concert presented by Coors Light.

The concert will feature a DJ set from QDP, followed by Mary Lambert and an energetic set from Swedish EDM-pop trio NONONO before finishing up with gender outlaw, activist and DJ JD Samson.

Tickets for the Friday night Pride in Concert are part of the Nashville Pride Weekend Pass that allows entry to both the concert and Saturday’s festival for $25.

SATURDAY, JUNE 14 The 26th annual Nashville Pride Festival will take place on Saturday, June 14. With gates opening at 10 a.m., the festival’s new location also means a new route for the ever-increasingly popular Equality Walk sponsored by Vanderbilt University. Now in its third year and with more than 2,000 walkers already registered, the 1-mile march will kick off at 2nd and Union and will reach as far as 5th Ave N and Commerce before looping back to its start.

The festival will also feature more than 100 vendors and food trucks along Deaderick and 3rd Avenue, an inflatable Kids Zone and games for adults on the lawn including a high-heel race, life-size Jenga, Twister and more.

This year’s Bridgestone Main Stage will host a mix of local and nationally acclaimed recording artists including Ponychase, Steff Mahan, The Harmaleighs, Kylie Rothfield, Lisa Loeb and Betty Who, as well as sets from DJ Ron, DJ Remedy and DJ Lady B. The Tribe & Play Entertainment stage, which will feature entertainment from local drag performers as well as a headlining performance from Michael Jackson tribute artist Rasean Montrese, is uniquely positioned at the corner of 3rd and Deaderick to provide plenty of room for onlookers throughout the day’s drag performances.

The festival will have several entry gates and ample parking nearby including $3 parking in the Courthouse garage directly below the festival and $5 parking only blocks away at L.P. Field.

Nashville Pride Weekend passes ($25) and VIP tickets are available now at nashvillepride.org. Entrance into the Festival on Saturday June 14, is $5 cash at the door without a weekend pass.

The Pride Festival is empowered by Coors Light and sponsored in part by Nissan, Bridgestone, Dollar General, Nationwide Insurance, VGT, Curb Records, Hard Rock Café, Classic Party Rentals and Tribe/Play Dance Bar. Visit page 56 for a full-list of Official Pride events and pages 30 for a festival map.

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‘‘

WE ARE THRILLED TO BE ABLE TO ADD A SECOND DAY TO THE PRIDE FESTIVAL, SAID PRIDE’S PRESIDENT-ELECT CLAUDIA HUSKEY.

THE MOMENTUM GENERATED FROM PAST YEARS HAS ALLOWED US TO MAKE THIS YEAR’S PRIDE A WEEKEND EXPERIENCE THAT WILL ATTRACT FOLKS FROM ACROSS THE REGION TO CELEBRATE WITH US.

‘‘

A

fter celebrating 25 years of being proud in 2013, this year’s Nashville Pride Festival reaches for new heights as it debuts its two-day format and new downtown location on Friday, June 13 and Saturday, June 14.

With construction planned for Pride’s previous home later this year, organizers say that Public Square Park provides more shade, more communal space, more music and fun activities throughout the day.

“We think people are going to love Pride at Public Square Park once they experience the festival-friendly layout,” said Pride President Joseph Woodson. “Beyond that, we’re excited to be celebrating our city’s diversity and our community’s accomplishments at the doorstep of our local government while raising awareness about the battles for equality still ahead of us all.

That’s something the entire Nashville community can be very proud of.”

Festivalgoers will kick Nashville Pride off on Thursday, June 12 with the Curb Records Pride Pre-Party at Pour House Burgers. The event will include a silent auction, entertainment and Nashville Pride’s annual awards for business and community leaders integral to Pride’s success. Tickets for the event are $20.

“Nashville Pride Fest is a community-driven event and that’s what makes it so unique” Huskey said.

“The festival is as fun and diverse as the LGBT community itself. It truly is what you make of it and we’re thrilled to see more people celebrating Nashville’s diversity each year.”

WELCOME TO THE AGE

MARY LAMBERT

‘‘

I FEEL REALLY HONORED TO BE IN THIS IN THIS POSITION AND HAVE THIS PLATFORM.

I JUST FEEL LIKE THERE IS A LOT OF GOOD I CAN DO AS LONG AS THE MOTIVES REMAIN WITH PURE INTENT, KINDNESS AND POSITIVE LIGHT. Lambert’s passionate words are also leading an audience (and queer generation) struggling with overlapping identities. “I feel like I’ve always been a leader, I just don’t know that I ever thought that it would be on this large of a scale,” Lambert jokes. “I thought it would be leading projects in a cubical.”

Far from an office cubicle, when Lambert delivers the choral confession, “I’m not crying on Sundays,” it’s hard not to imagine Lambert preaching about her own struggle with sexual identity and Christianity from the pop music pulpit.

And the raw honesty that made the “Same Love” chorus so compelling is front and center on the singer’s majorlabel debut EP Welcome to the Age of My Body, released last December.

On the (almost) four-song set, Lambert extends her “Same Love” chorus into “She Keeps Me Warm.” The lead single was a luscious letter to (lesbian) love complete with optical nicknames, a near complete first date set of twenty questions and general fuzziness of first love.

But it’s Lambert’s spoken-word roots that come out on the two-part “Body Love” that serves as the EP’s crown jewel.

“It’s one of those songs or poems where my relation to it is constantly evolving,” says Lambert. “I’ve learned so much about myself through performing this poem. If I wake up with a shitty body day and I hate the way I look in the mirror and then I have to go out and perform this poem, I feel differently . . . I just see this power of words active in my own life and intention.”

PHOTO BY MIKE RUIZ

‘‘

I

JOSEPH BROWNELL

“I can’t change, even if I tried, even if I wanted to.”

And with twelve honest words, Mary Lambert created the chorus that catapulted her from small Seattle singersongwriter circles to the Grammy stage with Madonna and Queen Latifah.

“I look at pictures and I’m like wow did that really happen?” Lambert laughs.

“I think it’s sort of like a wedding where you spend weeks getting all prepared for it and then it happens and you’re like wait, wait what happened? It just felt like a dream—like Cinderella.”

Even though Lambert’s been the belle of the ball since singing the powerful chorus to the politically charged Macklemore and Ryan Lewis hit “Same Love,” she’s quickly proving she isn’t your typical pop music fairytale.

Since reaching this “quasicelebritydom” Lambert, 25, has been unique in her almost unflinching honesty. In interviews, Lambert talks candidly about her sexual abuse, bipolar diagnosis, substance abuse and body image issues. And in what sometimes can be seen as an ever-increasing vitriolic world of celebrity, Lambert is proving there is strength in giving your vulnerability a voice.

“I feel really honored to be in this in this position and have this platform.

I just feel like there is a lot of good I can do as long as the motives remain with pure intent, kindness and positive light,” she says.

While “Same Love” was almost universally adopted as the unofficial/ official theme of marriage equality campaigns across the US, Lambert is also using that platform to speak out for all forms of equality.

“We talk about gay marriage being this sort of this beacon and I believe that were we have come such a long way but in the same states that are allowing gay marriage, there are still laws that allow the transgender community to be fired for their identity,” Lambert explains. ”So, I think there is so much more progress to be made because beyond the civil rights of marriage, we need to protect basic human rights as well.”

In late April, Lambert unveiled the viral #BodyLove campaign which led up to the track’s video release. Complete with separate hashtags, Mary took power by declaring her love for parts of her body and encouraging thousands of others to submit their photos for such campaigns as #LoveMyButt, #LoveMyBareFace and #LoveMyBelly.

But “Body Love” wasn’t without criticism. In a lengthy blog post (marylambertsings.com), Lambert offered an apology to the transgender community when her “organic video inclusivity” resulted in zero visibility of transgender women.

“For a long time I felt alienated because there was no visibility for my

JUNE 2014

demographic,” Lambert says. “I can only imagine what it feels like to be someone that’s not even remotely portrayed in the media and when they are portrayed, it’s usually in a way that lacks sensitivity.”

Lambert is using the experience as a lesson to continue to grown both as an artist and a person. “I want to take any criticism that is given to me and hopefully address it and be able to walk away with a greater understanding of my impact on the world,” Lambert says.

Through both a self-critical lens and her artistic output, Lambert’s impact may be bigger than she thinks.

In a recent discussion, Lambert stated that, “self-love is one of the most important and potentially cultureshifting movements that is happening” in our current day and age.

After speaking with Lambert, we couldn’t agree more. In order to love others, we have to love ourselves. So this Nashville Pride, whether you’re listening to Lambert at the Pride Fest Concert on Friday night or walking in Saturday’s Equality Walk, take a moment and #LoveYourself.

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On behalf of the Nashville Pride Board of Directors and Committees, welcome to the 26th annual Nashville Pride Festival empowered by Coors Light!

The purpose of Nashville Pride is to maintain a sense of community and awareness of, about, and for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people and culture throughout Middle Tennessee. This year, our community has much to celebrate – judicial victories in marriage equality, a proposed ordinance that extends Metro employee benefits to partners in same-sex couples, and a continuing positive relationship with leaders in our local government. Celebrating those successes as an entire Nashville community is pivotal but Pride is also about awareness, and the battle is not over. As a community there are many more challenges we must face together – workplace protection for EVERYONE in this great state, the real and current battle to end HIV/AIDS forever, maintaining equal access to adoptions, and total marriage equality to name a few.

The board has been hard at work to ensure this year is bigger than ever and that we accomplish our goals of celebration and awareness. For the first time, the festival will take place at Public Square Park. This new location is literally in the middle of our great city and at the doorstep of our state and local government; a major accomplishment in promoting awareness of who we are. We’re diverse. We come from every profession, background, race, gender, and religion. We are mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, young and old, we are taxpayers, we are Nashville, and we are proud of our contributions.

The festival has also grown from a one day event to a full weekend of PRIDE! We hope you will join us for Pride in Concert on Friday night as well as the festival celebration on Saturday. Nashville Pride 2014 will continue to feature the staples you have grown to love including an amazing entertainment lineup at the Bridgestone Main Stage, the Vanderbilt Equality Walk, fabulous performances at the PLAY/TRIBE entertainment stage, the Classic Party Rentals VIP Area, the Metro Human Relations Youth Area, and over 120 vendors and community organizations in the LGBT Chamber of Commerce Vendor Marketplace.

Finally, this celebration would not be possible without the dedication and hard work of our allvolunteer board, our incredibly generous sponsors like Coors Light, and the many leaders in the community who step up, get involved, and make a difference all year long. Remember, this is “YOUR NASHVILLE PRIDE” and we thank you.

With Nashville Pride,

Joseph Woodson President, Nashville Pride

JUNE 2014

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JD SAMSON

W

MAKING MUSIC THAT MATTERS JOSEPH BROWNELL

Whether through her music or her message—and for many both—JD Samson has probably moved you, even if you didn’t know who she was.

In the early 2000s, Samson was part of electro-punk/pop trio Le Tigre and most recently released Labor, the sophomore album as part of the Brooklyn-based band JD Samson and Men. In between, she’s DJ’d, written songs for Christina Aguilera, appeared in Shortbus and even released two massively successful lesbian calendars.

Through it all, Samson has pursued the potential of her art, blending her passion for performance/multimedia art and feminist/LGBT community activism into a musical landscape that is equal amounts political and party.

Before JD Samson brings that energy to the Friday night Nashville Pride Fest concert, we caught up with the artist/activist to about the Labor of her latest project, whether her queer icon status is a matter of ‘right place, right time’ and the struggle of happiness in a success-driven society.

Q &A

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‘‘

...TAKE A DEEP BREATH, LOVE YOURSELF AS MUCH AS YOU LOVE YOUR AUDIENCE, AND KEEP ON LIVIN.

‘‘

You’ve also been called a queer icon—do you take that lightly and what does that mean to Beneath the beats, there’s always been a you exactly? message in your music yet in an interview I have no idea what a queer icon last year you said the power of the mic is, but I just happened to be at the right was hard to have, that it made you place at the right time, and in the middle ‘uncomfortable’ and that you didn’t deserve of a really important time for queers. that power— why do you think that?

We started a revolution. We danced and I’ve just never had the outgoing sweat and smiled and hugged and talked personality that a lot of musicians about politics—all in the same room. And have. It’s why I always looked up to we were safe. I feel grateful for being a Kathleen (Le Tigre bandmate). She was part of that—on the stage or off the stage able to start talking and always end up we were part of the same energy. changing the world by the end of her How have you responded in the past to sentence. Once I start talking on the mic, others being confused on our gender— I get really scared. There’s a difference does it bother you less or more when it between public speaking and having a happens today? persona. I always kind of hide behind the I’m a pretty shy person, to be honest, “jd,” but I’m learning and growing and so usually I just try to make sure people changing still. Hopefully, I will find a aren’t uncomfortable with my presence. voice on stage, but until then I’ll just use Passing as a man has been easier for me my lyrics to shout the things I want to say. than trying to use the women’s room, but more and more, I find myself being proud I’d say there is a louder voice than you of exactly who I am and using my voice. realize. You’ve been referred to as a gender It just depends on the day. Like today, I outlaw—surely you’ve inspired many queer went into a bike shop and the person at kids to be more comfortable with their the counter used the word ‘they’ which gender expression. Laverne Cox recently surprised me and excited me. The world referred to herself not as a role model but a is changing bit by bit. possibility model- is that your intention?

I love the way Laverne Cox has been discussing her role model status recently!

She has actually helped me put so many of my feelings into words, and helped me feel more confident about my visibility. Usually when someone tells me that I saved or changed their life, I respond by saying, ‘you saved mine or changed mine.’ The reality is that I’ve been in the public eye since I was 21 years old, and every fan, community member, gender outlaw, and family member that I saw out in the crowd was holding me up just as much as we were holding them up.

Something I said in an old Le Tigre song, “Keep on Livin’,” always rings true for me in these moments: you have to look past your life in this town, this moment, this time. There is more, you just have to decide where you want to be and put yourself there, either literally or emotionally.

Your latest project with JD Samson & MEN is entitled Labor- which is to say that it was work . . . in some personal aspects including a vulnerability fans had yet to see from you as an artist- can you expound upon that?

Yeah, this record was written differently. After several of our band mates had left the project, I felt kind of introverted in the writing process. It was the opposite of how it felt on Talk About Body. The process of looking inside myself was new, but really great for me. I was able to do a lot of psychoanalysis of myself and I think it brought me to a new place both emotionally and artistically.

You were featured in OUT’s Love Issue with your partner Ariel Sims- has falling in love changed the way you approach making music?

I think becoming an adult has changed the way I make music. There are so many different sectors to my intentions these days. What kind of live experience do I want? What kind of recording do I want to make? What kind of people do I want to collaborate with?

What kind of life do I want to lead? How much do I want to be away? How much money do I need to make in order to have a family? All these things.

You touched on that in a 2011 blog entry for Huffington Post that “you live with the stress of not knowing, not planning and not understanding whether or not I will ever be able to reach my goals of having a family and feeling safe financially.” Were those things you were thinking about in say 2006 or has your relationship and/or age brought those things to the surface?

ARTICLE CONTINUES ON PAGE 38

Well, singles like “All The Way Through” sound like your most commercial tracks to date— would you agree?

For sure. That song was written and then produced by Yuksek. As soon as I sang it I said, ‘this is a hit.’ After trying to sell it to someone else, I decided I wanted it for myself. It was my first love song, and maybe my last! (laughs) But nonetheless, it’s a part of me.

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CONCERT FESTIVAL FRIDAY, JUNE 13 SATURDAY, JUNE 14 6 - 11 PM

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EQUALITY WALK KICK OFF IS AT 10AM 2ND & UNION DRAG SHOWS NOON, 2 PM AND 4 PM TRIBE & PLAY ENTERTAINMENT STAGE

JUNE 2014

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KYLIE ROTHFIELD

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JOSEPH BROWNELL

When Kylie Rothfield opens the Bridgestone Main Stage at Nashville Pride on Saturday, June 14, you’ll want to listen up for the young performer’s declaration of strength after being knocked around in the tempestuous title track to her EP, Ragdoll.

Showcasing that no matter how many times we’re knocked down, we get right back up, its chorus could easily apply to the many struggles and victories the LGBT community has faced in its move towards equality. And as we celebrate the paths we’ve blazed this year, Rothfield also celebrates her Nashville Pride Festival debut.

Rothfield has long used her music as part of her allyship to the LGBT community. “I grew up with a few very close guy friends who came out in high school,” Rothfield recalls. “Even though we were fortunate enough to live in San Francisco—which is generally very accepting—I still saw their struggles every single day. I saw the disapproving stares and heard the horrible words and just watched them struggle to truly be themselves.”

After receiving early decision to Berklee College of Music, Rothfield left California for Boston, carrying those moments with her. When questioned about inspiration during an Artist of the Month interview Rothfield recalled, “a couple songs about an ignorant, insensitive comment a man said about one of my friends that is gay.”

Showered with awards and scholarship while attending Berklee College of Music, the pinnacle perhaps was a private clinic with Grammy Award-winning Best New Artist Paula Cole. “I was honored to meet [Paula Cole] and play my song for her . . . I was so nervous, I think I almost passed out,” Rothfield laughs.

In 2012, Rothfield set her sights on Nashville. With an indisputable blend of hunger and talent, Rothfield saturated herself with every opportunity to play and learn when she first arrived. And now, two years later, celebrates the recent release of her EP Ragdoll, a collection of three soul-steeped tracks and a “musical love letter” to her new home.

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And while she describes the last two years as feeling like “an organized chaos,” the singer-songwriter is showing no signs of slowing down. Rothfield just wrapped a spring tour, she’s already recorded two songs with Music City maven Victoria Shaw, is writing for her new record and making her Bluebird Cafe debut June 22.

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CONTINUED ARTILCE FORM PAGE 28: JD SAMSON

Elec tion Da Aug ust y 7

I think I’ve been thinking of this more and more since the end of Le Tigre. We were lucky enough to make money, but the music industry has changed, and that moment of magic isn’t always going to be there either.

Musicians are successful because what they are doing is fresh, new, and exactly what we as a culture need—that happened 100% with Le Tigre.

I think that happened a bit with MEN, but I’m not sure . . . now I just sit back and think about what we need and how I can give it to us.

You also say: “We live in a society where people equate success with money.”

Has that been a struggle for you as an artist measuring your own success by society’s standards?

Of course, but not just as an artist, but a person. I measure my success against other people all the time. It’s hard not to be able to afford things that other people can. But in the years since that article I’ve realized that I’m just kind of happy to be alive and have what I have, and I’m gonna do my best with what I have.

Over the last decade, you’ve been involved in many projects. When performing at a Pride festival, is it difficult to decide where to draw from for your set?

YES! I was just doing that today. But honestly this is one of those shows that’s pretty easy to figure out- it’s Pride. And no matter how we have separated ourselves in the past 20 years, I still think people want to come together, enjoy how far we have come, and get psyched for how far we have to go. I want to make people dance, and sweat and hug and scream. Again.

If you could write yourself a letter and date it back to you in 2004, what would it say?

That makes me tear up a little bit! I would have said, take a deep breath, love yourself as much as you love your audience, and keep on livin’.

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RASEAN MONTRESE

album Xscapehas been released Montrese is already sifting through requests for the new material. But right now, Montrese is focused on Pride and fulfilling his childhood dream of a Michael Jackson Tribute show.

Named after his favorite track of MJ’s to perform, Montrese and his production company Rasean Entertainment are working on “Man in the Mirror,” a 90-minute tribute

Sooo BAD, HE’S AWESOME!

show set to benefit local charities. “This is a huge undertaking and I want people to leave the theatre transformed. “

TOLD YOU THIS MAN WAS BAD. Connect with Rasean Montrese on Twitter @RaseanMontrese or ‘like’ his Rasean Montrese MJ Tribute Artist page on Facebook

PRIDE PHOTOGRAPHY

JOSEPH BROWNELL

You’ll forget all about the Michael Jackson hologram from this year’s Billboard Music Awards after Rasean Montrese rocks with you on the Tribe/PLAY Dance Bar Entertainment stage at this year’s Nashville Pride festival. The multi-title holding performer has the King of Pop in his blood and as a noted MJ impersonator, he’s ready to show Nashville just how bad and off the wall he can be.

“I always try to give it all and hold nothing back,” Montrese says of his performances. “My joy comes from the audience. If I can take someone away to a happy place for a few minutes, then I have done my job.”

Montrese has been doing that job since he was eight years old.

“I’d love to say I moonwalked on to the earth but I know I spent tons of time in front of the television wearing holes in my mothers carpet,” Montrese joked.

But it was that practice and first public moonwalk at age 8, where Montrese remembers putting his hat on a lady in the front row before executing his lunar liftoff, that led to some of his first gigs.

Those early days in Los Angeles as a child entertainer during local fashion shows blossomed into musical theatre during high school. Montrese then took his ‘hobby’ into the club scene where things started to ‘snowball.’ Each step preparing Montrese for the exciting world of pageantry that lay ahead.

“Initially, I wanted to have more opportunities to perform,” said Montrese.

“Then I realized if I polished myself that maybe one day someone would see me and say ‘he’s got it’ and fortunately that’s what happened.”

42

So what exactly does Montrese have? You can start by adding up his titles such as National Entertainer of the Year in 2005, Mr. Continental in 2008 and Mr. Gay USofA 2012. And you can’t hold those three titles without a bit of charisma and ton of talent.

But with more than 15 years professional experience now, Montrese still remembers his professional gig as MJ. “It was like a dream. I wanted to do so much visually and I couldn’t get it all out of my mind on to the stage but the crowd didn’t notice. That has always been my thing. I can hear a MJ song and visualize it onstage, and the fun for me is making my vision reality.”

Montrese’s vision is helping him brand himself across all forms of performance media. In 2008, Montrese played the King of Pop in the parody flick Disaster Movie, which also served for Kim Kardashian’s acting debut.

And now that’s Jackson’s posthumous

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Inside Tennessee’s marriage equality lawsuit VAL TANCO AND SOPHY JESTY JAMES A. GRADY

With the overwhelming series of victories in the courts marriage equality has seen in the past year, it is hard not to feel a sense of growing optimism, even in the South. Here in Tennessee, we may be on the verge of a monumental shift, as the case of Tanco v. Haslam reaches a crucial stage in the federal courts.

The case was filed on October 21, 2013 by the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) on behalf of four couples (one has since dropped from the case).

Each couple had been legally married in a state that allowed such marriages and subsequently moved to Tennessee, where the state constitution forbids the state from recognizing these legally valid marriages. Asked about how the couples were chosen, Maureen Holland, a Memphis attorney on the case, reflected, “in any case you try to find individuals who showcase the human perspective and the issues. If you look at our complaint we have women with a baby on the way, in Nashville we have a couple from California with adopted children who have family who want their family recognized, and in Memphis we have a military couple - a broad spectrum across same sex marriage.”

44

One characteristic that the three couples share, besides being same-sex couples being denied their marriage rights in Tennessee, is that they are not Tennessee couples who sought out-of-state marriages. Each of them enjoyed legal marriage rights in their home states and were brought to Tennessee. Dr. Valeria Tanco and Dr. Sophy Jesty transferred from New York to the Knoxville area for work.

Matthew Mansell, and husband John Espejo, transferred to Franklin from San Francisco. Matthew’s law firm relocated his division to Tennessee, and if he had chosen to remain in California, he would have lost his job in a very uncertain job market. Ijpe deKoe and Thom Kostura found their way to Memphis via the military, which limited their choices.

The NCLR’s Legal Director, Shannon Minter, describes the problematic state of affairs created by state constitutional bans on respecting legal same-sex marriages: “Married couples should be able to travel and to live in any state knowing that their family is protected. Tennessee’s current law hurts same-sex couples and their children without helping anyone.”

The complaint as filed highlights the heavy burden Tennessee law places on same-sex couples, without “any reasonable or rational basis or

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JUNE 2014

justification,” including the deprivation of basic family rights, of parental protections, and of “a dignity and status of immense import,” which language reflects the Supreme Court’s Windsor decision.

As the case has progressed through the federal court, it has taken an unusual and promising turn: on March 20, 2014, U.S. District Court Judge Aleta Trauger ordered that, while the case proceeds, the State of Tennessee must recognize the legal status of the three couples remaining in the case. In making this

decision, she reflected that the harms to the couple of continued deprivation of their rights outweighed any harms that might otherwise come to the state. This injunction, however, applied only to the couples in the case; a wider ruling will come only when the judge decides the merits of the case.

Maureen Holland explains that, in order to get such “a preliminary injunction granting immediate relief ... you have to prove you are likely to win the case and that there is irreparable

IJPE DEKOE & THOM KOSTURA

Jesty, whose daughter, Emilia Maria, was born while the temporary injunction was in effect. While her official birth certificate lists both of her mothers as birth parents, the status of that document is now in question, and may not be finally settled for a long time yet.

‘‘

AND AT THIS PRESENT MOMENT

I DON’T HAVE PARENTAL RIGHTS.

I’D LIKE TO BE RECOGNIZED AS A WIFE, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY I WANT TO BE RECOGNIZED AS A PARENT.

IF THE MOMENT CAME WHEN I NEEDED TO CLAIM MY PARENTAL RIGHTS BUT COULDN’T, IT WOULD BE UNIMAGINABLY TRAGIC!

‘‘

harm in forcing the couples to wait.”

Trauger refused the State’s request for a stay of her injunction, and Tennessee was forced to appeal to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, which did put a stay on Judge Trauger’s temporary injunction while they considered the merits of her order. “However, though the court put a temporary hold on the recognition of these three marriages until a panel could be convened,” Holland explained, “they took a rare step of requesting that that panel should be convened immediately.”

She is hopeful that within 30 to 60 days of briefings being filed, the panel could rule on the stay, and thus the temporary recognition of the three couples.

While the case itself may yet have a long road, a ruling on the temporary injunction by the Court of Appeals would send a strong signal about the likely trajectory of the case, just as Judge Trauger’s ruling already has.

But in the meantime, the status of three families, and in the longer term all same-sex families in the state, remains uncertain. This uncertainty is especially poignant in the case of the Knoxville family, Dr. Valeria Tanco and Dr. Sophy

JUNE 2014

‘‘

IN CALIFORNIA, THOSE RIGHTS WERE MINE AUTOMATICALLY. HERE IF I GET SICK AND JOHNO DOESN’T HAVE THE DOCUMENTS ON HIM, MY MOM, NOT MY HUSBAND, IS MY NEXT OF KIN.

IF MY SISTER WERE TO GET SICK, HER HUSBAND WOULDN’T HAVE TO PRODUCE A DOCUMENT. HOW IS THAT FAIR?” THE COUPLE HAS TWO CHILDREN, AND HERE THEY HAVE ONE ADVANTAGE: THEY ARE BOTH THE LEGAL PARENTS OF THEIR CHILDREN, WHOM THEY ADOPTED TOGETHER IN CALIFORNIA.

‘‘

MATTHEW MANSELL & JOHNO ESPEJO

Val and Sophy, ironically, decided to join the case just before they realized they were pregnant. While the importance of the case had motivated them to join, Sophy says finding out that they had a baby on the way “really crystallized the issue for us because we realized wouldn’t have had any parental rights. And at this present moment I don’t have parental rights.

I’d like to be recognized as a wife, but more importantly I want to be recognized as a parent. If the moment came when I needed to claim my parental rights but couldn’t, it would be unimaginably tragic!”

For Val, these concerns were compounded by additional worries: her pregnancy wasn’t a “by the books” case. She reflects that, “as the due date came closer, medical issues put a lot of stress over me and Sophy. If anything had happened ... well, it became clear how important it was for her to have guaranteed rights over not only the baby but over my medical decisions.

No one in the world knows me like she does, but she wouldn’t have been able to make those decisions for me without a lot of legal wrangling.”

Matthew Mansell and Johno Espejo share Val and Sophy’s concerns. “If I were to die or be incapacitated, my husband would not have any legal rights to make decisions for me, as would a husband in a heterosexual couple,” Matthew reflects. “In California, those rights were mine automatically. Here if I get sick and Johno doesn’t have the documents on him, my mom, not my husband, is my next of kin. If my sister were to get sick, her husband wouldn’t have to produce a document. How is that fair?” The couple has two children, and here they have one advantage: they are both the legal parents of their children, whom they adopted together in California. Nevertheless, “we have to make sure we have all their adoption papers with us when we travel showing we are both legal parents in the coadoption. As gay men traveling with our children, we’re subject to extra scrutiny.”

Ijpe deKoe and Thom Kostura, like their co-plaintiffs, feel the lack of protection their legal New York marriage offers them. As a Sergeant First Class, Ipje reflects favorably on the federal protections and benefits the couple now enjoys: “we have a favorable thing at that level. But when it comes to state things, like guaranteed hospital visitations, or property ownership and survivor benefits? We had those rights in New York, but now

we’re in Tennessee. If we’re going to live in Tennessee for a long time, is the state going to take care of us? Is it going to protect us like it does our straight neighbors?”

While very “little immediate relief” is likely for all Tennessee same sex couples any time soon, Thom reflects that, “our marriage was recognized for a month and it was a pretty momentous thing for our friends and our community.

We all celebrated, and we all hope that the state will treat our marriages the same as they do everyone else.”

Even after the issue of the temporary injunction it is likely that the majority of the state’s LGBT couples will have to wait a while, feeling the same kinds of frustrations Matthew Mansell, one of the Nashville area plaintiffs, voiced: “We’ve been committed for over 19 years! We’re part of the same country, we’re upstanding citizens, we pay taxes!

Shouldn’t I have the same benefits and privileges as anyone else?”

Indeed, New York and California are part of the same country as Tennessee, and that would seem to be one of Judge Trauger’s main reasons for confidence that, ultimately, the side of justice will prevail throughout the land: “all signs indicate that, in the eyes of the United States Constitution, the plaintiffs’ marriages will be placed on an equal footing with those of heterosexual couples and that proscriptions against same-sex marriage will soon become a footnote in the annals of American history.”

OUTANDABOUTNASHVILLE.COM

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(Il)LEGAL WEDDING

ADVOCATES FOR EQUALITY ACROSS THE NATION JOSEPH BROWNELL

When the ACLU announced its My Big Gay (Il)legal Wedding contest last December, Megan and Lindsey Smith had already started a digital community of their own for marriage equality in Tennessee, with the Facebook group TN Marriage Equality.

At the beginning of 2013, while on vacation at a bed and breakfast in Waynesville, North Carolina, Megan and Lindsey experienced discrimination as a same-sex couple for the first time. This experience left both feeling discouraged, but simultaneously energized to make a

46

difference. “Before the bed and breakfast incident, we hadn’t experienced, as a couple, anything that made us feel like that,” Lindsey said.

“I had never really thought of myself as an advocate until that happened,” Megan added. “And it’s not that we didn’t care about LGBT issues before, it’s just that until you experience something, you don’t realize its impact on how you feel. Once that happened to us, it really opened our eyes to what LGBT people—especially in the South—deal with.”

OUTANDABOUTNASHVILLE.COM

JUNE 2014

‘‘

I HAD NEVER REALLY THOUGHT OF MYSELF AS AN ADVOCATE

UNTIL THAT HAPPENED, MEGAN ADDED. AND IT’S NOT THAT WE DIDN’T CARE ABOUT LGBT ISSUES BEFORE, IT’S JUST THAT UNTIL YOU EXPERIENCE SOMETHING, YOU DON’T REALIZE ITS IMPACT ON HOW YOU FEEL.

ONCE THAT HAPPENED TO US, IT REALLY OPENED OUR EYES TO WHAT LGBT PEOPLE— ESPECIALLY IN THE SOUTH—DEAL WITH.

‘‘

our big gay

It took Megan and Lindsey six months to process their experience. “I think we were so shocked and it took us a few months to realize what had even happened because there was nothing that we could legally do about it since LGBT community is not a protected class in North Carolina, just as it’s not in Tennessee,” Megan explained.

In June 2013, Megan and Lindsey blogged about their experience, ultimately drawing national attention to their plight. The couple began attending Tennessee Prides and equality events, including speaking at the Marriage Equality Day rally in Nashville and the Chattanooga hearings on partner benefits, as well as organizing their own digital resources for their pending non-profit.

In August 2013, knowing that samesex marriage was banned in Tennessee, Megan and Lindsey went to the Hamilton County Clerk’s Office to apply for a marriage license. Like couples across the state, they were denied.

In December 2013, the couple decided to enter the ACLU My Big Gay (Il)legal Wedding contest. Initially only open to couples who lived in a state bordering a marriage equality state, Megan and Lindsey thought that their entry might be disqualified. But that didn’t stop the energized couple.

“We thought it was worth a shot, so we wrote into the judges and launched a big campaign and had a bunch of our friends write letters,” Lindsey said.

“Apparently they had already been kicking around the idea of opening it up, but we gave them a little boost knowing from our perspective what the contest would mean to couples in other states.”

Once they knew that their entry wouldn’t be disqualified, there was no stopping the couple as they campaigned endlessly with media, family and friends

to secure a spot in the Top 5, hoping to win $5,000 toward their dream wedding.

As the marriage equality landscape changed so quickly, and the contest was opened up to all states, the contest was extended past its near-Valentine’s end.

Megan and Lindsey continued their campaign, ultimately being announced winners in mid-April.

Since winning, it’s been a whirlwind for the couple. Between meeting the other four couples with the ACLU in New York, the couple celebrated with their (Il)legal marriage ceremony with family and friends in Tennessee.

“I held her hand in front of our friends and family, put a ring on it and said, ‘I do,’” Megan shared. “In our eyes we’re as married as we can be but to Tennessee, we’re nothing.”

And while they can’t change the legal status of their marriage in Tennessee just yet, the couple did enjoy their legal

wedding last month in Washington, D.C..

What may have started as a bit of a nightmare, turned into the ultimate fairytale complete with a horse drawn carriage through the mountains and a carriage arrival at the steps of the Supreme Court.

“It was magical,” Megan said after the wedding. “During the carriage ride people were stopping to take pictures and yell congrats. Then at the ceremony, groups of people stood in the rain to watch us get married and clapped when we kissed. I can’t believe how much support we got from total strangers. It was such a wonderful experience.

And like the advocates they have become, Megan reminds us that despite getting as many legal protections as they can, including a legal marriage certificate, the couple” couple crossed the imaginary line and still came back to Tennessee as legal strangers.”

of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee

thebrooksfund.org

JUNE 2014

OUTANDABOUTNASHVILLE.COM

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Knoxville Pride really keeps getting bigger and better

48

of the year but there is plenty of hard work ahead of us. It will take all of us to change hearts and minds in our city and state. We all have a stake in this. So speak out, speak loud- BE PROUD!” And with a host of events—new and old—there are plenty of chances to make new friends and get involved in the Knoxville LGBT community.

The PrideFest’s popular EAT OUT with Pride, where local restaurants donate portion of proceeds on a specifically selected dining night, has no fewer than one dozen nights planned where the community can EAT OUT with Pride in June.

A new component this year, the Knoxville LGBT Film Festival, showcased a diverse selection LGBT films throughout the month of May, including the Harvey Milk bio-film Milk, the young, African-American coming of age lesbian film Pariah and the Felicity Huffman starring TransAmerica.

Other events include Art OUT in the City (June 5), the Knoxville PrideFest Picnic (June 8) and the Sunday Funday closing of Pride weekend (June 23).

Continuing its trend from last year, Knoxville PrideFest’s headlining entertainers are all out and proud artists.

The ladies will flock to Knoxville Pridefest to catch Amy Ray and Emily Saliers, better known as the Indigo Girls, on Saturday, June 21. Twenty-five years since their self-titled debut and hit song “Closer to Fine,” the Indigo Girls are touring the US this year, which included a May 23 stop with the Nashville Symphony. While the Girls’ last record was in 2011, Amy Ray released a solo country album earlier this year.

OUTANDABOUTNASHVILLE.COM

X KNO

R RW EA UN DE CT IO N R // W EA // AU SW IM N SH OW IO FA SH

JOSEPH BROWNELL

Since establishing itself in 2006, Knoxville PrideFest has quickly evolved into one of the Southeast’s most rockin’ and celebrated Pride festivals. Encouraging thousands to LIVE. LOVE. BE. PROUD, the East Tennessee Equality Council (ETEC) board and committee members deliver on their promise of bigger and better, year after year.

Last year’s festival marked a bold move to World’s Fair Park, and while M. Todd Cramer, President of the ETEC, admits it was a move they struggled with, he also points that that the festival “ended up being more successful that we ever could have hoped.”

The 2014 Knoxville PrideFest keeps World’s Fair Park as it home, welcoming thousands to celebrate equality—victories that extend further than marriage equality— in Knoxville.

In October 2013, Mayor Madeline Rogero announced that the city would expand its partnership benefits to samesex couples beginning January 1, 2014.

This move made Knoxville the second city in Tennessee with same-sex partner benefits, joining Collegedale, Tennessee and eventually Chattanooga as the three cities (currently) with partner benefits for their LGBT employees.

Also, just weeks after last year’s PrideFest, Knox County passed an amendment to their non-discrimination ordinance that included sexual orientation and gender identity.

Supportive government doesn’t always translate to a full supportive community. Just last month, a Knoxville City-County building was evacuated after police reported that an emailed bomb threat citing the city’s support of the PrideFest parade, was sent to government officials.

“It’s a perfect example of the vast amount of work that’s left to be done with LGBT activism,” says Knoxville activist and host of The Lavendar Table, Gary Elgin. “When all of the folks who are so complacent think we have it all, bigotry and homophobia rears its ugly head again, big time. “ Elgin hopes that this year’s PrideFest serves as a reminder for many to get involved.

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SCRUFFY CITY HALL

Joining the Indigo Girls is the AllMONDAY|19TH American Boy (and former underwear TUESDAY|20TH model) himself Steve Grand. Grand made WEDNESDAY|21ST headlines last July when his self-financed THURSDAY|22ND video for his single “All-American Boy” ADMISSION went viral. Nearly three million views, KNOX201419202122 a year and a Kickstarter later, Grand is poised to release new music later this summer after fans pledged more than four times the required $81,000 to get the project off the ground.

Rounding out the entertainment is rapper/artist Cazwell. Since his first album in 2006, Cazwell has been tearing up the dance floor with his dance-infused hip-hop.

Best known for his 2010 viral hit “Ice Cream Truck,” Cazwell recently released the single “No Selfie Control” which he describes as a call to “our ever-growing need to be viewed as popular and attractive.” The track is the fourth single from his upcoming record Hard 2 B Fresh.

So if you aren’t getting enough Pride when Nashville Pride takes over two days June 13-14, plan your trip to Knoxville for their PrideFest Weekend, June 21-22.

For more information, visit knoxvillepridefest.org.

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since 1992 and the early days of pride, mary mancini has been an ally of the

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Paid for by Mary Mancini for State Senate, Susan Salley, Treasurer

JUNE 2014

OUTANDABOUTNASHVILLE.COM

49

A FORMAL ENGAGEMENT

KNOXVILLE COUPLE’S VIRAL ENGAGEMENT PHOTOS GENERATE FURY, HOPE

O

JAMES A. GRADY

n May 3, 2014, Navy Lieutenant Kyle Bandermann, clinical psychologist and recent Ph.D. from UT Knoxville, proposed to his boyfriend, Lance Buchanan, in a romantic scene.

The proposal is lovingly detailed on their blog (http://buchandermanns. blogspot.com/). Lance volunteers with the American Military Partner Association (AMPA). The group has posted photos and announcements of many LGBT service persons’ engagements, as part of their advocacy for LGBT rights in the military. When Lance’s supervisor posted their photo, everyone was surprised by the result. “It truly is surprising to us,” Kyle said, “that our photo has been seen by so many. To us, this was just one magical moment in our life together that I asked to be captured by friends, so we could remember it forever. What started as a friend’s ‘congratulations’ by posting it on his organization’s page quickly became more attention-gathering than we ever imagined.”

Lance and Kyle’s engagement exposed millions people to the reality of a gay couple in a very direct way. In Kyle’s family it led to a very real change. “Due to the photo going ‘viral,’ my family chose to finally tell my 85-year-old

50

grandma that I identified as gay, after years of me requesting to be able to ‘come clean’ to her. Her response: ‘I never would have known in a million years’ and ‘I will love you the same when I go to bed tonight as when I got up this morning.’” Beyond this kind of healing, they believe that sharing their story will expose a wider segment of society to images of gay men which defy the stereotypes, perhaps helping move us forward in some small way.

Nevertheless, the pushback came early. When asked about the negative responses their photo elicited, Lance was stoic: “ I respond in silence or by just ignoring it. I don’t focus on the negative comments—negativity spreads like a plague, and I refuse to take part in it.”

Kyle, however, admits that it is harder for him: “I am not nearly as strong as Lance—the negative comments do get to me, and I have a weakness of getting “sucked in” and taking them personally. One in particular suggested that my Navy shipmates should throw me overboard when we are out to sea.”

OUTANDABOUTNASHVILLE.COM

JUNE 2014

He’s not worried someone would actually carry through on that specific suggestion.

Rather, such comments risk influencing the thoughts of vulnerable psyches in a dangerous direction, which “makes my job as a clinical psychologist—trying to increase the resiliency and restore the mental health of our service members— that much more difficult.”

Why did their photo garnered the attention, and in particular the negative?

For Kyle it is not unrelated to the positive hope of changing stereotypes. Their portrayal challenges stereotypes about gay men on the one hand, but about masculinity on the other. Unlike the majority of AMPA posts, which “portray females or couples partaking in more passive displays of affection,” Kyle and Lance were “engaging in such an active display of love previously thought to be reserved for heterosexuals...” To a conservative mind, this means that at least one of them is “quite comfortable standing in the same place as a female,” challenging a worldview based on a stereotype of acceptably masculine behavior.

However disheartening, the negative response has its upside according to Lance, who says it can be easy for those close to LGBT people to underestimate the harm. The negative comments, which some family and friends could barely stand to read, “allowed them a rare opportunity to see how cruel some people are towards the LGBT community (and us directly) when it has been so much easier to ‘bury

their heads in the sand’ and assume all is well.” To this extent, the expression of negative sentiment has backfired.

The couple has taken a very reflective posture regarding the attention they have garnered. On the one hand, they have not allowed the negative to obscure the positive. “We as a culture are progressing and the negativity is becoming more of a fringe attitude. I am certain that the response would have been mostly negative even five years ago.” Indeed, five years ago Kyle would have been discharged over the photos from his engagement. The overwhelming positivity, however, doesn’t outshine the negative personal reactions, and social realities, gay couples still face.

“We very obviously still have a ways to go. ‘Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere.’” Despite the relatively warm reception and federal protections they will enjoy as a couple, servicemen and women can be transferred to places where their spouse is not allowed to join them, and if stationed stateside, spousal benefits like in-state tuition for same-sex military spouses are still not guaranteed everywhere.

Beyond the legal disparities, the comments highlight social attitudes which are impossible to legislate away.

Both men exhibit deep spirituality, so religiously motivated, hateful comments touch a familiar nerve. Like many spiritual LGBT people, they have each

BRACE YOURSELF FOR

‘‘

MY FAMILY CHOSE TO FINALLY TELL MY 85-YEAR-OLD GRANDMA THAT I IDENTIFIED AS GAY, AFTER YEARS OF ME REQUESTING TO BE ABLE TO ‘COME CLEAN’ TO HER. HER RESPONSE:

I WILL LOVE YOU THE SAME WHEN I GO TO BED TONIGHT AS WHEN I GOT UP THIS MORNING.

‘‘

felt a greater or lesser degree of isolation from religious communities.

Though the couple has found a home in the Metropolitan Community Church, Kyle remains concerned that “the ‘Church’ will continue to ostracize an entire people group. In church history, we have seen the same happen with women, people with disabilities, and people of color... Do we really want to continue to keep an entire group of people from worshiping God with us?”

Their experience has also made them even more acutely concerned for groups less protected by both military culture and society at large. As much as their experience highlights the lag between legal recognition and social acceptance, their brush with social outrage has strengthened their solidarity with others: “we haven’t even began to touch trans rights. Individuals who identify as trans can still be (and are being) administratively separated for ‘coming-out’ with a cross-gender identification. This is destroying their hopes of continuing to serve and protect the country they These young lovebirds’ story highlights, if nothing else, this one point: “We’ve come a long way—but there is more to do!”

FELINE FRENZY! MAKE JUNE PURRR-FECT.

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KITTENS 8 weeks – 4 months $75.00 for one – OR – “Double the Fun! Two for One”

CATS 5 months – 2 years $25.00

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You can watch our kittens at play on our kitten cam, or see photos of our adult cats by visiting our website.

Monday 10am – 5pm | Tuesday 10am – 5pm | Wednesday CLOSED | Thursday 10am – 5pm Friday 10am – 5pm | Saturday 10am – 5pm | Sunday 12pm – 5pm

VISIT US AT 213 OCEOLA AVENUE IN NASHVILLE – NASHVILLEHUMANE.ORG – 615.352.1010 JUNE 2014

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51

I love that you post your set lists on Facebook.

We make a different set list every night. We’ve been doing that forever and ever and posting them for a long time as well.

I also love looking at your outfits on the Tumblr. Did you ever try to dress a certain way back then?

Oh, god, no. I look back at those pictures and wish I had a stylist. They’re terrible, the things I wore: shorts with a blazer, striped shirts with high-waisted jeans, hi-tops. Just god-awful hairstyles.

So the answer to that is no. [laughs] We were a bar band. We just showed up in a bar dressed in what we normally wore.

I know exactly how you feel.

My favorite thing now is just to wear black t-shirts and black jeans. I’m wearing red shoes right now.

I’m also wearing red shoes. Converse hi-tops.

They’re the greatest.

ELLEN ANGELICO

The Indigo Girls are popping up all over Tennessee. First, Amy Ray brought her solo country album Goodnight Tender to 3rd and Lindsley at the end of April.

Then, last month Amy Ray and Emily Saliers played the Thistle Stop Café as part of the organization’s fundraising Thursday night music series before their anticipated Nashville Symphony show. And now the duo is set to rock out during Knoxville PrideFest on June 21.

We caught up with Emily Saliers to talk about the Indigo Girls’ career, activism over the last 20 years and how much work there is still left do.

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JUNE 2014

You each have a lot going on. Amy has the solo career and her own label, you have a restaurant and your writing. How do you guys stay balanced and find time to maintain Indigo Girls?

Indigo Girls has always been fed by the fact that we have autonomous lives. The fact that we nurture those keeps it great when we’re together.

We’re like a Yin Yang. Both Amy and I have a drive to keep things interesting.

It’s why sometimes we play as a duo, sometimes as a band, play with the symphonies, do the blog... We try to stay on top of growing. We’ve learned different instruments through the years.

The way to find balance for us is not to put too much into Indigo Girls by overextending our time and energy.

Collectively, we’ve found a good balance. Who knows why; it’s kind of a mystery.

You guys started a great Tumblr blog that I love. What brought about you starting a Tumblr?

Our manager was talking to us about doing a book and other artists have done books. But we didn’t want to do it like, “This is the end of our career and we’re looking back.” We still feel like we have a lot of time and music left in us. We thought the blog would be a good way to give people who are interested a taste of our history without having to pay for it. When the time comes we’ll collect pieces, maybe interesting and fun pictures that no one else would be able to get their hands on, things like that. The blog was sort of a way to create that for people for free.

I have really enjoyed doing the blog.

It’s a lot of work and in some ways it is quite intense. Amy and I put a lot of work and thought into it. We’re going back and combing through our history.

It’s been a great thing to do.

You have a pretty good handle on technology and seem to have weathered other changes in the industry really well.

We’ve seen the industry change completely. Back when we were signed to Epic, major labels were nurturing the life of bands like us and that just doesn’t happen anymore. When we became independent again, by that time we had developed all the relationships we needed. I think because we’ve always had a good team, we’re not trying to chase any trends. It’s tighter, financially, but because we have such a loyal following we can play the same cities again and again and people come to the shows. We’re so fortunate. We’ve been able to build a really grassroots career over the years.

‘‘

WE BELIEVE IN THE SPIRITUAL POWER AND FORCE OF WOMEN AND WHAT WOMEN ARE CAPABLE OF.

I’d rather be on the side of that kind of change than the most powerful rich woman in the world who’s placed in a male paradigm of what success is.

‘‘

25 years later

So I am curious, what’s the difference between playing a show like Knoxville Pride versus a show at the Schermerhorn with the Nashville Symphony?

It’s interesting because at Knoxville Pride we’re playing with a band. We’ll probably write a pretty upbeat set and rock out a bit. The symphony shows are completely different. It’s not quite as raucous as a normal Indigo Girls show but it gets close because we’re all excited. But the set is preplanned because we can only do so many songs with the orchestra. They get the scores and we do a two and a half hour rehearsal that day. It’s intense. The other shows are more spontaneous.

SO IT’S ALL GOOD.

Speaking of torch-passing, gay representation and female representation is so prominent in the news today with Michael Sam being drafted and the presidential election in 2016. Why is it important to you guys to remain active in the queer community?

There are still people who are being killed for being gay or being beaten up or being ostracized. There’s a lot of suffering. The suicide rate for queer youth is astronomically higher than other demographics. There’s still a lot of pain. So many states still haven’t legalized marriage and still have sodomy laws on the books.

There are class issues within the queer community; we need to fully embrace the trans community. There’s just a lot of work to be done. On a very simple level, if we can make life easier or someone else’s path to fully being dignified in their sexuality and whole personhood, then that’s an awesome thing and we’re happy to be there.

I don’t think it’s a mystery, I think you guys are smart.

We don’t go out on the road for a month like some bands. We just can’t do it. We burn out. We’re both family people; we want to get home to our families.

We’ve found a way to work it out.

I want to talk a little about your activism. You just did a show benefitting Thistle Farms here in Nashville, you played a Keystone pipeline protest in DC, and Honor the Earth is at least 20 years old now. How has your focus on activism changed over the years?

The one good thing is we’ve been able to network over the years and find people who are incredibly motivating and inspirational activists and mentors. That just comes from being around a long time, running into people at other events, and learning about new issues. Like anything else in life, the more you do it the better you become. I think we’ve become more effective activists. We don’t want to just throw a performance at a cause. We want to make sure the cause is connected to the community and that it’s going to have a positive effect and not just kind of be like, “Well we did that and now it’s over.” We tend to stay connected to the causes we’re involved in. Early on, we decided with Honor the Earth that we couldn’t be environmentalists without looking through the indigenous lens because of their connectivity to the earth and life forces like water and air. That was a no brainer. All the issues inform our music and our lives.

We’ve just gotten better at it. We’ve come across incredible people who continue to guide us and they just kind of passed the torch along.

JUNE 2014

Do you think your career would have been different if there had been more gay voices in the media when you were starting out?

I think so. But before homophobia there’s sexism. That’s at the heart of the issue: how women are perceived, treated, and handled in a maledominated society and business. We believe in the spiritual power and force of women and what women are capable of. I’d rather be on the side of that kind of change than the most powerful rich woman in the world who’s placed in a male paradigm of what success is. So it’s all good. There’s a lot of pain and a lot of work to be done but we’re where we want to be and who we want to be.

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Queer artist hopes to raise the profile of visual artists in Nashville

Exhibit open at Red Arrow Gallery through Pride ELLEN ANGELICO

In a town known for its artistic expression through music, there is a vibrant scene of visual artists who are determined to make their mark. One such artist is Casey Promise, whose distinctive style and native-Nashvillian perspective have earned her an exhibition at The Red Arrow Gallery.

“We get lost in the whirlwind of music, sports, and religion,” Promise says. “It’s a little more difficult being a visual artist.”

Promise’s work literally stands out with its use of mixed media. “Drawings can only take you so far,” Promise explains. “I love to see people interact with art. With 3D pieces, even if it’s on 2D paper, they still have to turn their head and look in and out and around it.”

Promise grew up in Murfreesboro, raised by “hippies and artists” who didn’t try to steer her in any particular religious direction. Her work, however, contains lots of characters with ram’s horns or angel’s wings.

She explains, “I never read the bible.

For me, the Bible was mystical. I was really intrigued by it and I’m still really intrigued by it, the story of good versus evil, positive versus negative. I never once thought that this was real.

To me, it’s a beautiful story.”

A lot of Promise’s work starts out telling a story about herself but expands to tell a larger story about humanity. There’s a piece depicting a squirrel busily nibbling on something inside a human head, called “Neuroticism.” Promise says the piece represents “my anxiety, my insecurity,

my rapid thinking,” but the sentiment is universal.

“I understand the ‘be positive’ mindset, but sometimes we forget that pain is real and we all feel anxious and we all feel hurt and we all feel loss,” says Promise. “A lot of my art deals with the thought of ‘I feel this too.’”

Promise’s experience as a queer person has also informed her work.

Many of the characters in her pieces are androgynous and very few have hair.

“I love that two people can come up to a piece and one person thinks it’s male and another thinks it’s female. Much of that is from my being queer, but I met a lot of transgender people when I lived in New Mexico. In a way, my fight for them is using these characters.”

Many of the androgynous characters in Promise’s work are intentionally covered-up nudes.

“There are so many artists here who have pieces that are too sexual or offensive to display here in the Bible Belt,” explains Promise. “Artists have this amazing beautiful work but it’s considered too offensive and they’re not able to display it. That’s frustrating for a lot of visual artists, so they go outside of Nashville to display their work.”

Promise, however, intends to stay in Nashville. “I think it’s definitely growing,” she says. She believes the more artists stick around in Nashville, the more artists will come out of the woodwork and be unafraid to display their work, and artists will feel “safer in investing in the pieces if they are in a community that would be more accepting of it.”

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Red Arrow Gallery is located at 1311 McGavock Pike, Nashville, TN. You can stay connected with Casey at caseypromise.com Nashville – 636 Old Hickory Boulevard Chattanooga – 7734 Lee Highway Knoxville – 230 Papermill Place Way

McKay 56

Nashville’s art community continues to grow through Promise and other artists who fearlessly display their work. Promise’s show at The Red Arrow Gallery continues through June 14 and it is thought-provoking, deeply interesting, and highly recommended.

Find Something You Want Now posting great McKay finds on Facebook & Twitter!

JUNE 2014

Timberfell Lodge Miranda’s Timberfell Lodge Men’s Resort and Campground Is seeking energetic team players for the 2014 season.

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June 4 – 8 Camp Bear 2014: TWO BEARS ENTER Timberfell’s own 6th Annual Bear Event! Brought to you by the Bear Patrol and TimBears. This fur-friendly event provides special cocktail mixers, pool parties, cookouts, t-shirt vendors, and after hour parties. This will beat all other bear runs as Timberfell is a private resort so Bears can be Bears!

The 10th annual Mr. TimBear contest will be held in conjunction with this event. See our website for registration and booking details.

June 20 – 22 7th Annual Trailer Trash / Sordid Lives Weekend Always a fun and festive crowd for our 7th annual event that commemorates the specialness of embracing our “inner trash” in the rural south!

This year we will be hosting the Brother Boy Boozy Splash Bash poolside party, Trashiest Campsite/RV, Trailer Parks Tour of Booze shots party, Redneck Golf Cart Parade, Trash Sale, and more! Join us for a fun filled weekend featuring this great satire movie of the South.

Come visit us in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains.

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JUNE 2014

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