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America at Its Best.
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By Susan F. Wiltshire Photography
by Rowland Huddleston
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Nashville, Tennessee, September 26, 2008 (Cable Muse Network) -- The Tennessee action for Seven Straight Nights
was a vigil in front of the Metro Nashville Courthouse on Tuesday, September 16, on the evening of a bi-monthly meeting of
the Metro Council. A beautiful banner read "Seven Straight Nights, Straight Supporters of LGBT Rights, Keep
Tennessee Free of Bullying and Hate Crimes." Stickers with the same logo of persons holding hands in front of a
sunset were worn by each vigiler. Others leafleted passersby with a statement of our goals.
Seven years ago the Council, by one vote, defeated a non-discrimination ordinance, a measure that will be
reintroduced sometime this session. Several Council members were invited to address the vigil, all of whom
agreed to speak. The first to come out was Vice-Mayor Diane Neighbors. Her first words were "I
am so sorry you are here having to do this. I hope next year you won't have to." Also speaking were Council
members Ronnie Steine and Megan Barry. Keith Durbin, elected to the Council this year as the first openly elected gay
official in Tennessee, addressed the vigil and won our hearts all over again.
The high point of the vigil was the appearance of former
Council member Chris Ferrell, who introduced the non-discrimination ordinance seven years ago. Chris spoke about the
groundwork taken before the vote. "We had the votes," he said, "and we won on the first reading.
Then the argument shifted to religious beliefs instead of commitments to democracy. We won't let that happen again."
It was a wonderful evening
for all our purposes.
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Return to Seven Straight Nights Events
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