Maybe it was the result of my lukewarm success as an organizer back in Arkansas, or maybe I am just growing cynical as I age, but I was really worried no one would show up for Nashville’s No on 8 rally.

There seemed to be a lot working against its success: The weather was miserable, it was a Saturday, and it had been organized hastily as a grassroots effort outside of Nashville’s “gay establishment.”

When I arrived at the public square, about 45 minutes early, the protest site was deceptively barren. I initially worried that either things had been canceled or turnout was even worse than I was expecting. I was reassured somewhat when I discovered a small group huddled in an elevator lobby.

Soon the young group of activists was asked to move out of the elevator lobby and onto the square. By that time, about 50 people had arrived. The crowd wasn’t huge, but participants were still very excited and eagerly posed for pictures with the pithiest signs; my favorite: “Gay Tennessee Hillbillies Say No to H8.”

By 12:30, the crowd had swelled to over 200, more than anybody had expected, and there were still groups filing in. Soon, the march around the square began. The marchers walking the circular path in the square’s center reminded me of the legendary rights marches in Philadelphia in the 1960s.
It’s too bad we don’t vote by car horn.

Things wrapped up (or so I thought) after the organizers and a few members of the crowd spoke about their reasons for attending the protest.

There was the gay couple with two young boys who just wanted to insure their rights as parents and partners; there was the lesbian couple of 20 years frustrated because they would have to go out of state to marry; and there was the straight married guy who expressed frustration about how stupid it was that his LGBT friends couldn’t get married.

I left around 1:30 as people started to disperse. It had been a pretty good rally. There were lots of people and almost all of the local press showed up. There had been no negative encounters, except some comments from a homeless guy who I think was more confused than anything else.

My only regret was that the event wasn’t in a more public location. As I was headed home, thinking about ways to increase visibility for next time, I got caught in a small traffic jam. When I looked to see why the light was green and no one was moving, I noticed a long line of people marching down the 2nd Ave sidewalk. It was a group of about 100 or so protestors from the rally taking their signs and their message deep into the heart of Nashville’s tourist district.

I have never been more proud about living in Music City.