Civil Rights

Nashville Pride 2022

By: John Partipilo and Lookout Staff - June 27, 2022 11:11 pm

Actor and Chattanooga native Leslie Jordan served as Grand Marshal of the Nashville Pride parade on Saturday. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Members of Middle Tennessee’s LGBTQ community, friends and supporters gathered Saturday and Sunday in Nashville to celebrate Pride Nashville.

The event came just a day after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 law legalizing abortion at the federal level, and has raised concerns the court could overturn Obergefell v. Hodges. Obergefell was the June 2015 ruling that legalized same sex marriage across the country.

But for the weekend, thousands turned out for a parade down Nashville’s Lower Broadway entertainment district and for a two-day festival at Nashville’s Bicentennial Mall.

Nashville Pride 2022

The Big Drag bus, which offers tours of Nashville with singing drag queens on board, rolling down Broadway in the parade. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Revelers celebrating Nashville Pride weekend. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Odessa Kelly, Democratic candidate for Congress in Tennessee's 7th District, high fives attendees online the Pride parade route in downtown Nashville on Saturday. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Dollar General employees pilot a giant Pride-themed shopping cart along the parade route. (Photo: John Partipilo)

A pair of Pride-goers decked out as Dr. Frank N. Furter and Magenta from the camp classic, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. (Photo: John Partipilo)

The Music City PREP Clinic entered an elaborate, Baywatch-themed beach float complete with lifeguards in the Nashville Pride Parade. (Photo: John Partipilo)

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John Partipilo

Working as a photojournalist for 40 years, Partipilo has won awards such as NPPA Best of Photojournalism and nominated for two Pulitzers. His photography has also been featured in national and international publications. Most importantly Partipilo’s work is about people — people in their different environments and people in their different stages of life. That’s the heart of his work. To him people are so important, because they all have a unique story.