🏳️‍🌈 Your guide to Pride

🎧 Check out City Cast Nashville’s Podcast Trailer!

On June 11, City Cast Nashville will officially launch! You’ll be able to find it on all major podcatchers. I’m so excited to tune in; we’ve got an amazing lineup of interviews for y’all. Until then, listen to the trailer! [🎧 City Cast Nashville]

🧑‍🚀 Local Astronaut Tests New Spacecraft

Astronaut Butch Wilmore from Mount Juliet blasted off for the International Space Station aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule on Wednesday with fellow astronaut Suni Williams. The two are the first to fly the Starliner and will spend about a week at the space station before returning home. That’s pretty darn cool. [WPLN]

• As of 2021, seven Tennesseans have become astronauts. [Tennessee State Museum]

🏳️‍🌈 LGBTQ+ Bar Forced to Close

Trax, an LGBTQ+ bar near the Fairgrounds, is closing at the end of June after the property owner abruptly terminated the bar’s lease. The bar has been open for 15 years, and the owner is seeking a new building for relocation. While this would suck no matter the month, it’s especially crappy news during Pride month. [Nashville Scene]

🦟 West Nile Virus Is Here

Mosquitoes in Rayon City, located in Northeast Nashville, have tested positive for West Nile Virus, Nashville’s least-welcome tourist. This is the first detection of the virus this year, and no people have tested positive yet. The Metro Public Health Department recommends eliminating standing water sources, wearing CDC-approved mosquito repellent, and avoiding going outside at dusk and night. [WKRN]

Pride month is here, and the ways to celebrate are endless. However, it’s crucial not to overlook the fact that Pride is a political event protesting the unjust treatment and systems faced by the LGBTQ+ community. Here’s what to know about Pride Month in Nashville and how to get involved.

🎉 Why We Celebrate In June

Pride as we know it started with the Stonewall Uprising on June 28, 1969, when police raided a gay bar in New York City’s Greenwich Village and patrons fought back. The ensuing fights outside the bar continued for six days and fundamentally changed the discourse of LGBTQ+ activism. Historians note that Stonewall was primarily a shift in how white cisgender people viewed queer rights and that it was actually a culmination of years of activist efforts.

On the uprising’s first anniversary, Pride solidarity marches were held in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago. More and more cities joined until the federal government recognized the month officially in 1999.

Nashville held its first Pride parade on June 25, 1988. “We know that Pride celebrations have been going on in Nashville for well over 50 years,” adds Nashville Pride president Nicholas Gulick. “In fact, we know of some picnics that were held in Nashville as a direct result of the Stonewall riots. So Pride celebrations have been going on in Nashville, and our region, for much longer than this organization has existed.”

While only 125 people attended that first march, which began at Fannie Mae Dees Park and ended at Centennial Park, more than 150,000 people are expected to attend this year’s event. Gulick is most excited about hearing Billy Porter, Sunday’s headliner. “As soon as Billy Porter takes the stage, I will probably be in tears — and celebrating.”

🏳️‍🌈 Pride Today in Tennessee

Here in Tennessee, the LGBTQ+ community has been under attack. Recently, state legislators have passed over 20 anti-LGBTQ+ bills, with a particular focus on discriminating against trans people. “Tennessee lawmakers are on the verge of enacting more than twice as many anti-LGBTQ+ laws as any other state, a staggering assault on their own constituents,” said Cathryn Oakley, Human Rights Campaign Senior Director of Legal Policy.

“These policies don’t improve lives, they don’t solve existing problems, they don’t address the real challenges that Tennesseans face every day. They only make life more difficult for people who are simply trying to live their lives.” [HRC.org]