(Reprinted from the 20 June 1993 issue of "The Tennessean" without permission) PRIDE MARCH SEEKS EQUALITY Urges war on discrimination by Carrie Ferguson About 700 homosexuals and bisexuals marched up Church Street and into Centennial Park yesterday to show they exist and want to be treated equally. "Hey, hey, ho, ho, homophobia has got to go," the marchers chanted. And, "Two, four, six, eight, looks like Nashville's not so straight." Reaction from onlookers ranged from dropped jaws to hisses to cheers. The march followed a statewide rally at Legislative Plaza and was the culmination of Nashville's Gay and Lesbian Pride Week. Rally speakers encouraged homosexuals o step out of the closet and join hands to fight discrimination. "Don't make this a once-a-year phenomenon," said Abby Rubenfeld, a Nashville civil rights attorney who recently filed a lawsuit challenging the state's sodomy law. "Be proud every day of the year." Lori Young, a Clarksville social worker, said the homosexual and bisexual community must work together because "We have no protection under the law. We could get kicked out of our apartments, we could lose our jobs because of who we are." "But it's going to take more than standing in a parade for two hours to change anything," added Larry Brown, also of Clarksville. Activist urges gays, lesbians to come forth, claim rights The message sent to Nashville's traditionally invisible lesbian and gay community yesterday was clear: Get out and claim your equal rights. "In Tennessee, call for a stop to the discrimination, for a stop to the homophobia, for a stop to the violence," gay activist Donna Red Wing told a sign-carrying, slogan-chanting crowd gathered on the steps of the Legislative Plaza. Mainstream gays - those who do not flaunt their sexual preference - must become a more visible force if they expect to receive equal rights and acceptance, she said. "And don't think that if you disassociate yourself from the drag queen or the leather dyke, you will be safe. The faggot, the queer and the dykes may be on the front line, but once they get them, they will come after you," Red Wing said. Red Wing, executive director of Portland, Ore.'s Lesbian Community Project, spoke to a crowd of about 700 gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender individuals who were young, old, white, black, Asian, Indian. The crowd represented professions such as banking, teaching, social work. They were students, parents, grandmothers and grandfathers. A handful were drag queens. A few were heterosexual. The downtown rally and parade up Church Street to Centennial Park was billed as a state-wide "Rally for Freedom" and it marked the end of Gay Pride Week in Nashville. The "they" Red Wing referred to in her crowd-rousing speeck is the religious right, who denounces homosexuality as "unnatural" and "perverse," she explained. Red Wing's words hit home for many in the crowd. "I'm out at work and I'm out at home, so I think it's sort of my responsibility to be here and represent the people who can't be here because of fear of retaliation," said Jeffrey Daniel, a West Point Military Academy Graduate from Antioch. Larry Brown, a student at Western Kentucky University, said he attended the rally to "give a face to the term 'gay.'" "For many people it is a risk to come out," said Kathleen Maloy, interim co-chair of the Lesbian and Gy Coalition for Justice, a new political group. "People need to think out their situations and if they can come out, they should. It is a public relations issue. At events like this, the media takes photos of the drag queens and the marginal people of our community and that gives people an excuse to think we're 'weird' and 'perverted.' "The primary goal of the coalition is to attain and protect the civil rights of lesbians and gay men by working in the state, local and national political process. We believe that the best way to combat the ignorance and fear of homophobia is for lesbian [sic.] and gay men to become visible participants in society." Across the street from the rally, several anti-gay protesters stood carrying signs and Bibles. "They are coosing this lifestyle. We're here to let them know the consequences of their choice," said the Rev. Larry Flatt of Good Shepherd Baptist Church in Goodlettsville. "Through the Bible they will be set free." The protesters, however, didn't put a damper on the festivities. Abby Rubenfeld, a Nashville civil rights attorney, spoke at the rally and encouraged the gay community to unite and continue to make strides for equal rights. "We should be proud we're not marching in a closet anymore," she said. "We're marching down a major thoroughfare and reminding Nashville we are a part of this community." __________________________ |____________/\____________| NetAddr: cabelljn@ctrvax.vanderbilt.edu |___________/ \___________| |__________/ \__________| Passion has it's price, but you can't buy it. |_________/ \_________| If you live in it's house, you follow it's rules. |________/________\________| Savannah, from "Key West" on Fox