Group of protesters outside the Cracker Barrel on Lebanon Pike in Nashville in 1991. Courtesy of the OutCentral Collection at the Albert Gore Research Center.
By Lauren Means
Nashville Queer History is a community organization and digital portal whose mission is to research and share the LGBTQ+ history of Nashville and Middle Tennessee in hopes of inspiring local activism, education, and inclusion. It was founded in September 2021 by Sarah Calise, a professionally-trained public historian, archivist and librarian. Connect spoke with Sarah about the project, Nashville’s queer history, and how we can all get involved in preserving our history.
What is Nashville Queer History? How did it come to fruition?
Nashville Queer History (NQH) is an organization and digital hub that researches and shares the LGBTQ+ past of Middle Tennessee. The idea for NQH began at my former job working at MTSU’s Albert Gore Research Center. I spent the spring and summer of 2021 organizing a collection from OutCentral, Nashville’s defunct LGBTQ+ community center. The Gore Center acquired the collection in 2019, but, thanks to the pandemic, I did not get to start on it until 2021.
This work ended up aligning perfectly with a Digital Humanities class I took through the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in which I had to build an online tool for our final project. I went looking for any public or free resources discussing Middle Tennessee’s queer history but I didn’t find anything. Nothing. I was a bit shocked considering how much I could find about Knoxville and Memphis. So, for my final class project, I built a website that hosted digitized copies of historic publications and photographs from the OutCentral Collection that showcased some of Nashville’s queer history from the 1980s and 1990s. I saw a gap that I could fill with my particular set of public history and archival skills, and it has kept growing from there.
What do you hope to gain from this project?
There are several goals with this project. One, to educate and empower the local LGBTQ+ community with our own history and to simultaneously counteract the state’s attempts at erasing our existence in public schools. Two, to preserve this history in an accessible format that is open to all and to hopefully force local archiving institutions to start caring about LGBTQ+ history. Three, to build a brick-and-mortar archive and library for Middle Tennessee’s LGBTQ+ history and culture.
Have you learned anything interesting about Nashville queer history?
There is still much to be explored about queer history in the southern United States. I have participated in college courses and read extensive scholarship on queer history in every part of the country and there are always similarities, even between New York, Los Angeles, and Nashville.
I think one interesting aspect of Nashville’s and the South’s queer history overall is how we have a more complicated and nuanced relationship with religion, particularly Christianity. Tennessee is part of the Bible Belt, and I suspect many people think that caused tension between LGBTQ+ people and churches. It did. It absolutely did (and still does). But churches were also some of the more welcoming places for Nashville’s LGBTQ+ population, particularly when we are talking about gay men and lesbians.
The first gay community center in our city’s history was founded in the mid-1970s and managed by the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), a gay-affirming congregation that began in Los Angeles. But even before MCC had its own building for worship, the Edgehill Methodist Church welcomed them to use their building for services. I am not religious myself, although I grew up Roman Catholic. But I have always found the relationship between church and queer identity to be an interesting part of Middle Tennessee.
Have you learned anything about yourself through your studies?
I have publicly identified as queer and bisexual for about six years now, so in a lot of ways I feel like a “baby gay.” For a long time, Nashville’s LGBTQ culture intimidated me. I didn’t go to my first gay bar until I started doing this research. I felt like a fake, ya know? I kept thinking people were gonna ask, “Who researches gay bars but never goes to them?” But I’ve been to Lipstick Lounge a few times now. It’s a lovely environment. I went to Pecker’s recently for Tina Louise’s celebration of 50 years in the drag business. I loved their intimate, older, more chill atmosphere. But bars and clubs still aren’t for me. That’s never been my vibe.
And researching Nashville’s queer history — and queer history in general — has taught me that there are vastly different queer and trans experiences. There’s a whole spectrum of queerness, some parts are just louder than others or showcased on television more. Nothing has been more powerful than doing oral history interviews with the LGBTQ+ elders of our community. I have laughed and cried with so many people over shared experiences. To get back to your original question, I guess I have learned that I am not as alone as I once thought.
Why is learning and knowing our (LGBTQ+) history important?
Having access to our LGBTQ+ history can strengthen our connections to each other and the folks that came before us. It can illuminate role models and demonstrate that we have always existed and carved out space for ourselves. For me, historical knowledge is empowering. It gives me the confidence to say, “I belong here,” especially in the face of Tennessee’s bigotry and conservative government.
What can we expect to come from Nashville Queer History in the months ahead?
More community-building! I spent a year setting the foundations for NQH, but I never wanted it to be *my* project. I want it to be ours. I am holding the first open house on October 4 and an online version on October 22. You can find more details about these meetings at www.nashvillequeerhistory.org/events. I want people to come curious, ideas ready, and with an ambition to help shape the future of NQH and how we connect with our history. A few projects in the works already include a driving tour of LGBTQ+ historic places (in partnership with Nashville Sites), a publicly accessible and free digital archive, and an ongoing oral history initiative.
To learn more about the Nashville Queer History project and to become involved, visit https://nashvillequeerhistory.org/.
