GLAAD was backstage at Nashville’s “Love Rising” LGBTQ benefit concert which is described as , “a celebration of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” The concert is a fundraiser for Tennessee Equality Project, Inclusion Tennessee, Out Memphis, and the Tennessee Pride Chamber in partnership with Looking Out Foundation.
Tennessee has been in the spotlight as of late for for it’s anti-LGBTQ legislation as well as it’s restrictions of drag performances, which has been temporarily put to a halt. Members and allies of the queer community including Maren Morris, Fancy Hagood, Joy Oladokun, Brittany Howard, Izzy Heltai and others spoke with GLAAD about the issues impacting the LGBTQ community in Tennessee and beyond and shared support for the drag community.
Morris talked about her support for drag and how the community has inspired her since she was a little girl. “I think that it’s such a shame to make people feel unwelcome in a place that has birthed so much creativity,” she told GLAAD in regards to the anti-LGBTQ legislation in Nashville. “I know that Tennessee is better than this and I I love living here but I also really sympathize with my gay friends right now that are leaving in droves.” She also points out that the queer community has bolstered the tourism in Tennessee, helping the state on an economic level.
“I love drag with everything in my whole entire being.” says Hagood, who has been going to drag shows in Nashville since he was 18 years old. He adds that some of his closest frends are drag queens and are featured on his latest single. He says that drag “big part” of his life.
Oladokun says drag is “a beautiful art form” and that is “fun and freeing”.
“I think it should be given the space to just be the art form that it is and to help people reach their own understanding of what it means to be in this world,” she said. “I think anybody that’s public with hatred isn’t really interested in protecting kids. But again, it’s about the art form, comedy and the beauty that drag is and can offer to this planet… I think it’s really powerful.”
Howard added to Oladokun’s sentiment. “I know the drag has saved people,” she said. “Drag has been able to get people to be who they really are and know that it’s okay..
Heltai says that laws like the drag ban aren’t new. “Bans like this are passed… not just to diminish queer expression,” he said. “It’s making being trans illegal… a lot of these laws are historically tied to just basically putting trans women in jail. I think that’s the bigger issue with these bills.”
Morris calls Nashville is “a beacon of hope” and wants it to be a safe space for drag shows and the LGBTQ community. “Thank you to the LGBTQ plus community for making me feel like I’m on the right track,” she says. “I’m not backing down.”