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A resolution recognizing October 11, 2024, as National Coming Out Day in Nashville and Davidson County.
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WHEREAS, National Coming Out Day is a day of self-affirmation and awareness of LGBTQ+ issues, observed each year on October 11; and
WHEREAS, the first National Coming Out Day was organized by Jean O'Leary and Dr. Robert Eichberg on October 11, 1988, which was the one-year anniversary of the Second March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights; and
WHEREAS, National Coming Out Day is also an opportunity for individuals to "come out" to their family, friends, and others, to heighten visibility in order to educate and inform their neighbors about the true diversity of the LGBTQ+ community; and
WHEREAS, Nashville has a special connection to national LGBT history through Penny Campbell. Penny Campbell was an LGBT activist who co-organized the Tennessee delegation to the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in 1987 and Nashville's Pride Parade in 1988. Later, she made history as lead plaintiff in Campbell vs. Sundquist (1996), which overturned a Tennessee state law criminalizing private, consensual sexual acts between same-sex adults; and
WHEREAS, in 2017, the Metro Nashville Historical Commission placed a historical marker at Penny Campbell's former home at 1615 McEwen Avenue in the Lockeland Springs neighborhood, and concurrently made history by being the first publicly sanctioned historical marker in Tennessee to commemorate the LGBTQ rights movement; and
WHEREAS, since then, historical markers have been placed to honor LGBTQ historic landmarks including The Jungle, Juanita's, and Warehouse 28, and a marker was recently placed on Jefferson Street honoring transgender soul singer and Nashville native Jackie Shane. In 2021, a street was renamed to Bianca Page Way to honor the beloved drag queen and AIDS activist; and
WHEREAS, it is fitting and proper that the Metropolitan Council go on record as celebrating October 11 ...
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