Meet Your 2020 Nashville Pride Board

Matthew Gann (Past President)

Harvey Milk once said that “Hope Will Never Be Silent.“ Nashville Pride to me is about being loud - not necessarily in the sense of volume but in action and involvement. Like many kids, I struggled with my sexuality growing up. I started volunteering with Nashville to ensure young folks, especially in rural areas around Nashville, know they have a voice, that their voice matters, and that there is a safe space for them to celebrate that voice.

Vic Sorrell

In addition to the opportunity to learn through serving alongside some of the brightest LGBTQ+ folks in the southeast, I wanted to participate as a Board member of Nashville Pride because members have the unique role of being faces from the LGBT+ community for our Nashville family at large, fostering the collaborative spirit that enables true inclusivity.

Pam Kelner

I originally started going to Pride 10 years ago to speak with people who wanted to learn about adopting through Jewish Family Service. Now, as a Board Member of Pride, I specifically chose to run the Kids Zone. Year after year, I get to see those families that we helped to form through adoption and love seeing how the kids have grown every year!

I also love seeing teens in the Youth area, creating their own space to be who they are freely and in a safe space. The number of teens that come to Pride over the past couple of years has grown exponentially. It is great to see!

Paula Foster (President)

I “came out” in November of 1990. Over the past 30 years, I’ve never missed a Pride celebration. I find rejuvenation in the mass of LGBTQIA+ humanity at our annual Pride festival and being part of making it happen is the least I can do for my commu- nity. I love working with the other mem- bers of the Pride board and seeing the cre- ativity and passion they each have for the LGBTQIA+ community in Nashville and the surrounding Middle Tennessee region.

I believe that it is vitally important to recognize both the struggles and the victories of our community and being part of the Pride Board of Directors gives me the opportunity to lend my voice to our celebration and our fight for justice. I will never forget the first Pride parade I attended and the feeling of belonging and joy I experienced and I want others to feel the same. Being able to help create and plan our annual Pride festival brings me a deep and abiding sense of happiness. I am humbled and grateful for the opportunity to serve my community.

Amber Bryant

For me, it is such a unique bond with Nashville Pride. There is nothing like feeling the energy, love, and hope all around you. I went from a spectator at my first in Centennial Park to a drag entertainer/host in the upcoming years. I have seen the festival grow from Centennial to the Riverfront and now to Public Square Park. I even had the honor and privilege to serve as Mister Nashville Pride 2016. Being a part of this all has opened my heart and eyes to so much within our LGBTQ+ community and beyond. Seeing what work has been done, the progress made, and knowing what work is still to be done has all pushed me to go beyond the stage and see what work I can put forth. Together, in Pride, we shall win this fight for our self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility.

David McMurry

Joining the Nashville Pride Board was the gateway to a greater local LGBT community experience. This opportunity allowed me to grow the mission of the organization’s great work. As a person of color, attending events and seeing people who look like oneself with many of the same shared experiences, contributes to building stronger, healthier LGBT communities and is an effective way to combat homophobia and stigma in the Black community along with overcoming the cultural, communal and institutional barriers created by isms and phobias. I am PROUD to be a board member of Nashville Pride.

Dakerri Barber-Rhone

I wanted to be involved with Nashville Pride because the history of Pride and the Stonewall Riots are extremely important to me. Advocating for LGBTQI+ rights and fighting for equality legislatively is my passion. Marsha P. Johnson’s life and legacy inspires me and motivates me daily.

Nashville Pride has been a safe-haven for me for over 16 years. It is the one time a year that I feel completely free, loved, accepted, and supported. To have the opportunity to serve the community as a Nashville Price board member is such an honor. My heart is poured into the work, outreach, and bonds formed with the Nashville Pride community.

Jaime Combs

Being born in rural Tennessee at a time when LGBTQ+ issues were never discussed, much less celebrated, I was so pleasantly surprised to see the Transgender Community being specifically featured and given a place of honor at the Nashville Pride Festival and Equality Walk the first year that I moved to Nashville. Representation matters and as a transgender woman I wanted to align myself with organizations that were seeking voices from my community. When the opportunity to join the Board of Nashville Pride arose, I naturally wanted to become a member. Now more than ever I am convinced that the work being done by Nashville Pride saves lives, and I am honored to be a part of this organization.

Christiane Davis

Given our country’s current social and po- litical climate and the growing need to cel- ebrate and embrace diversity, I am grateful for the opportunity to serve on the Nash- ville Pride Board.

Kenny Hill Wright

Active in the LGBTQ+ community for nearly 40 years, accepting a position on the Nash- ville Pride Board is a worthy extension of my volunteerism. As an older gay man, I want to bridge any gaps that may exist between our younger and senior commu- nities while promoting an overall strength- ening of our community-at-large as well as individual pride.

Alex Fortney (President Elect)

My first Nashville Pride was in 2008 — back when the parade was a march around Centennial Park, and you could see the whole festival from the entry point. It was the first time I’d ever seen a rainbow campaign sticker (Thanks, Obama!), and the first time I’d been to any pride at all. Growing up gay in Nashville was hard, but that first Pride made me realize, for the first time, that I wasn’t alone. It was important for me to get involved because I know how important Nashville Pride is to so many people, of all ages, from all over Middle Tennessee (and beyond!). Last year’s parade was amazing and overwhelming and made me more proud than I’ve ever been of my city. It’s an honor to serve this community, and I hope to find ways to do it for the rest of my life.

Kerrie Turney (Secretary)

Equality for all is something that I feel very strongly is something that everyone deserves. As an Ally, it was important to me to be part of Nashville Pride. Not only do I have the opportunity to continue the work that many leaders have been doing for years, but to celebrate. Celebrate culture and tradition, but most importantly celebrate the fact that love is love, and who you are as a human is perfectly awesome. Every year I choose to stay involved with Pride, cherishing the relationships that I have made and knowing that for many of my friends, family, and students, knowing that they have a fervent ally makes a difference.

Sandra Ferris

I love PRIDE because everyone can and should be free to be exactly who they are. PRIDE celebrates that and inspires us to love ourselves and each other!

Sheila Fischer

As a respectful and accepting ally, I’m involved in Nashville Pride to celebrate the progress of the LGBTQ+ community in Middle Tennessee.

Mac Huffington

What Nashville Pride means to me is that I get to service & support my Community in each & every way possible. I love what I do. I have enjoyed spending years devoting all my passion and dedication to the Pride Organization and you the Nashville Community!! Thanks for letting me serve now and in the future!

Andrés Martinez

Pride is not just a celebration of our identity, it ’s a reminder of the struggles of generations past and their fight to secure civil rights for all. As part of Nashville Pride, I hope to continue advancing civil rights in Tennessee and our country as a whole.

Zach Ledbetter

Following my first time attending Nashville Pride, a friend on the board urged me to volunteer for a couple years. I really enjoyed it and started attending additional events, which lead to an opportunity to serve on the board. Serving as volunteer coordinator for a while, I had the chance to meet many people within the community and learn what Pride means to them. The space, support, recognition and love that Pride offers is inspiring. I enjoy being involved to further build our community and its support system, and I’m excited to see what the future has in store for Pride!

Rell Freeman

I have love and a passion for all people. Over the years, I have dedicated my time and aspirations of helping homeless LGBTQI youth by joining the board of Nashville Launchpad a “street free sleep initiative”. As a member of the Nashville Pride board, I strive to bring resources together to build a stronger platform of organizational unity within the LGBTQI community.

Greg Cason

You can often see me volunteering within the Nashville and LGBT community including Second Harvest, Habitat for Humanity, Nashville Pride, Nashville Black Pride, Atlanta Pride, Nashville CARES, Just Us, Gay Softball World Series, amongst others. When people ask why I volunteer so much of my time, I tell them “I give because I know what it feels like to be without”.

Justin Sweatman-Weaver

As a young person growing up in the Upper Cumberland, the idea of Pride, or even living openly as a queer person, never really crossed my mind. We have evolved and grown so much even in the past few years and, while the progress is exciting, the potential that still lies ahead of us is even more thrilling. I take so much PRIDE in being able to work with young LGBTQ+ folks and with schools statewide – to amplify their voices and experiences and dreams – and to be part of teams like Nashville Pride that create space for us to celebrate ourselves, our friends, our chosen families, and the community that unites us. We shine as one.

Phil Cobucci

I have had the opportunity to serve on the Nashville Pride Board for the last six years in a number of different capacities. Little did I know that when I started serving, I was going to have all of the opportunities that have been afforded to me through this service. Where I was raised, being gay was not something to discuss; let alone something to be proud of. It was something that was supposed to be hidden. In my teenage years, the L, the G, the B, the T, and the Q was not something to be acknowledged or celebrated. This work has taught me at the LGBTQIA+ community is more than just letters on an alphabet, but that our individual voices give meaning to different identities and lived experiences, all of which are complex, beautiful, and fascinating. It is this fabulous quilt of many colors, faces, shapes, and sizes weaved out of our collective experiences that time and again proves the importance of Pride to me. Most importantly, this work has allowed the start of learning about the needs of our community through the Community Visioning Project which has led to building a strong foundation for the future work for our community in the months and years ahead.