Fannie Mae Dees Park

On June 25, 1988, approximately 250 people convened here at Fannie Mae Dees Park to begin the state’s first Pride Parade. From here, the group marched to Centennial Park for a rally that included a Metro Council member, Nashville CARES, Nashville Youth Network, and the National Organization of Women. The executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Jeffrey Levi, declared that the march was a major step for the city’s LGBTQ community, especially in the conservative South. He was right. The event was covered by press organizations, including tv news stations, and raised the visibility of queer Tennesseans as people worthy of respect and recognition.

The first Pride Parade was propelled by the Second March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights that took place in 1987. As you heard earlier in the tour, Nashville activist and Vanderbilt Divinity student Penny Campbell helped organization the Tennessee contingent to the march. She returned to help begin planning the Nashville Pride Parade and celebration. Additionally, Nashville’s first gay and lesbian newspaper Dare, later known as Query, published its first issue in March 1988. They served a point of connection and community and promoted LGBTQ events like public talks, film screenings, and Pride Week. Since 1988, Nashville’s Pride celebration has continued to grow. According to The Tennessean, the 2019 Festival saw over 75,000 attendees.

Now, we’ll follow the footsteps of that first Pride Parade and head to Centennial Park. Turn LEFT back onto Blakemore, which becomes Thirty-First Avenue North. At the light, turn RIGHT onto West End Avenue then take a LEFT onto Twenty-Seventh Avenue North to enter Centennial Park. Follow Twenty-Seventh Avenue until you see the Parthenon then find parking, either along the street or in the lot next to the Parthenon. You’ll pass many statues, memorials, and markers, including one called Federal Defenses about the Civil War. We’ll come back to that at the end of the stop. Feel free to walk around the park and the Parthenon as you listen to the narration, and envision the picnics and pride gatherings that took place here.