By Sarah Calise • Photo Courtesy Phil Michal Thomas
Born and raised in Nashville, Phil Michal Thomas has been an integral part of Music City’s LGBTQ+ community for decades. I recently sat down with Thomas to interview him about his experiences living as a Black gay man in Tennessee and other places around the country.
After attending high school and college in Nashville, Thomas moved out of state. He spent time in New York and Atlanta in the 1970s and 1980s. He was an early member of ACT UP New York and participated in the organization’s crucial die-in protests that called out the government’s lack of action for supporting AIDS patients and HIV research. He was also active in AIDS organizations in Atlanta, particularly AID Atlanta.
Thomas returned to Nashville around 1990 and discussed that coming back to the city “felt like being caged” when it came to speaking out about gay rights issues. But he wasn’t raised to stay silent. He joined Nashville CARES in its founding years, and his experience with AIDS organizing in New York and Atlanta was pivotal for the outreach and success of Nashville’s own group. He became one of the most recognizable faces for Nashville CARES because of his appearances in the media. But this led to some sacrifices, too.
“I lost a lot of friends in the Black community, especially the Black gay community,” Thomas said. Because his face and name became linked with gay rights and AIDS issues, many Black people did not want to be associated with him. He understood their concerns, and ultimately did not mind the isolation as the most visible Black gay man in Nashville. He “had a purpose” and was going to speak out.
He also joined the Tennessee Gay and Lesbian Alliance (T-GALA), an important organization involved in planning Nashville Pride events, combatting anti-gay legislation, and building community resources, like The Gay & Lesbian Community Center once located at 703 Berry Road. The Center had a gay information switchboard, a teen support group, and other services. They reached LGBTQ+ people across the city and even rural areas. “We gave these people hope…people that had no support, and they wanted to know if they were the only ones.”
Thomas remembered Nashville’s gay nightlife as a rich but typically segregated culture. Due to his work with AIDS issues and mental health in the community as well as dating white men, Thomas had greater leeway for entering predominantly white spaces. But for most Black people, there were restrictions at gay clubs. One time, at the popular gay bar Warehouse 28, Thomas noticed a group of Black men holding their identification cards out and trying to get in the front door. He asked a friend, “When did they start asking for I.D.?” His friend responded, “Oh, they must be Black.”
He realized these policies were common and they prevented many Black people from fully participating in Nashville’s gay community. He found a similar situation in Atlanta, and experienced racism at the well-known club called Backstreet. Thomas recalled the strongest safe spaces for Black gay people to hang out together were private house parties, which are a tradition that still continues today. In terms of clubs, The Jungle, The Gas Lite Lounge and Towne House Tea Room, and The Cabaret were some of the places in Nashville that welcomed everyone.
Although these microaggressions and racist policies existed, Thomas described an overall positive experience living as an openly gay Black man in Tennessee. He’s had more beautiful memories than anything else, and it gives him joy to see young gays and lesbians walking around being themselves. As for being one of the few public Black gay faces in Nashville, he said it was all worth it if even one person felt represented and thought, “Hey, he looks like me.”
Today, Phil Michal Thomas lives in Nashville and works in behavioral mental health. You can buy his novel PANELS on Kindle. The book was inspired by his participation in the March on Washington for Gay and Lesbian Rights in 1987.
