TN's First Historical Marker Honoring An LGBTQ Activist Unveiled

NASHVILLE, TN -- The first state historical marker honoring a Tennessee LGBTQ activist was unveiled Saturday afternoon in East Nashville.

The marker in Lockeland Springs stands outside the former home of the late Penny Campbell at McEwen and 16th Street. Campbell, who died in 2014, led the Tennessee delegation to the 1987 March on Washington for Lesbian & Gay Rights and organized the first Pride event in Nashville in 1988.

Later, she was the lead plaintiff in Campbell v. Sundquist, the mid-1990s case that resulted in Tennessee's ban on homosexual activity being ruled unconstitutional.

Campbell's father, the late Will Campbell, was one of the most prominent white pastors in the 1960s Civil Rights movement.