Glitz & Giving: The HRC Nashville Gala Doesn’t Disappoint

The annual HRC Nashville Gala was held on Saturday, March 9, 2024 at the Renaissance Hotel.

The event was attended by an array of special guests including Rep. Gloria Johnson, Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell, and Councilwoman Olivia Hill, the first-ever openly transgender individual to be elected in Tennessee.

Johnson, a candidate for US Senate said, “I’m so excited to be here. It’s such a wonderful time to celebrate. I work in a toxic environment where they celebrate hate more than they celebrate love of their community. I think it’s such a wonderful night to get together to celebrate each other and to love our community–create this circle of love that the folks in the legislature are just ignoring. And they are bringing dangerous policies to our LGBTQ communities, to women, to our black and brown communities and we have to stand up and we have to respect the human dignity of every Tennessean.” 

Each year HRC Nashville honors select individuals for their commitment to LGBTQ+ rights. This year the honorees were activist and Chaplain Dahron Johnson for the Equality Award and singer-songwriter, Cassadee Pope for the Visibility Award.

Equality Award

The HRC Equality Award is given to an individual or organization that is paving the way for Equality for LGBTQ+ people. Their efforts create a significant positive impact in the community. Dahron Johnson is the embodiment of this award. She is a clinically-trained chaplain and licensed minister in the United Church of Christ (UCC) and serves as the bereavement coordinator for a hospice serving eight counties in Middle Tennessee.

Throughout her career, Chaplain Johnson has advocated persistently for keeping the voices of patients & their respective communities of care central to their own journeys. She is the chair of the equity advisory council for a major national healthcare corporation, and the immediate past chair of a regional community advisory board for LGBTQ+ health. Dahron is a member of a state-wide council focused on support for those with intellectual & physical disabilities, and serves as a community member on a board overseeing research efforts with Veterans.

She was also recently elected as a board member for an organization that seeks to empower neighborhood leaders to best achieve their community’s goals. Chaplain Johnson partners regularly with the Southern Christian Coalition—a nonpartisan grassroots, ecumenical organization that speaks at the intersection of faith, values, and public policy.

Her activism work, though, has its home & hub in the Tennessee Equality Project, a group dedicated for the last 20 years to legislative advocacy for the rights of LGBTQ+ Tennesseans. Through this work, Dahron has testified before TN General Assembly Senate and House committees on multiple occasions, and, in January 2024, Chaplain Johnson became the first openly trans person to speak from the floor of the Tennessee House during session, having been invited to serve as the Chaplain of the Day, offering the session’s opening prayer and invocation.

Chaplain Johnson said of being honored, “It’s really overwhelming. I am honored to be honored in this way, but there are so many doing such great work and I hope they feel this is in part theirs as much as it is a moment where I get to step up on stage as well.”

Visibility Award

The HRC Visibility Award recognizes LGBTQ+ individuals who are living open and honest lives at home, at work and in their greater community. These attributes align with HRC’s mission of creating a country that inspires and engages all Americans to work toward ending discrimination against LGBTQ+ citizens and realizing a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.

During her career, Cassadee Pope has embodied various roles: a leading figure of the influential pop-punk ensemble Hey Monday, triumphant victor of The Voice’s third season, and a country singer/songwriter who has achieved platinum-selling status with hits like “Wasting All These Tears” and a GRAMMY nomination for “Think of You,” a duet with Chris Young. Of utmost importance, however, she has served as an ally and advocate, striving for societal change and a brighter tomorrow in a world that often seems resistant to progress.

In an interview with Connect last year, Pope said, “I am a safe space. My shows are a safe space. I am so appreciative of the people that show up 100% as they are, that are authentic, and that are just navigating their lives rooted in love.”

Through it all – the Warped Tour parking lots, tours with Fall Out Boy and Yellowcard, CMT Awards and chart-topping singles – she’s always remained fearlessly, unapologetically herself. This is why she was selected as the 2024 HRC Nashville Visibility Honoree.

You can see all the glitz and glamour on the Connect website.