Yesterday was a special day in Memphis, Tennessee.

Black people, white people, gay people, straight people, transgender people, [insert minority and/or majority here], etc., gathered together to begin a march at the National Civil Rights Museum, to push for equal rights for all people.

You see, the National Civil Rights Museum surrounds the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated.  If you think you know the narrative of what happened in Memphis during the weeks leading up to his death, you probably do not, but you can be forgiven, because I didn’t know the whole story until the other night.  That’s a story I hope to bring to you all in coming months, one that has been whitewashed out of the history books.

But suffice it to say that it was significant that this march began there.

People of all shades, all religions and lacks-thereof, many of whom had to take off work to do so, came together on Monday afternoon, to march from the National Civil Rights Museum to City Hall.

The marchers moved North, through historic streets and locations:  past the Lorraine motel; across Beale Street, the home of The Blues; past the Peabody Hotel, the Northern boundary of the Miss’ippi Delta; past the old Cotton Exchanges, which put Memphis on the economic map; past the Belz Museum of Judaic and Asian Art, supported by the Belz family, which stands in tribute to the rich Jewish tradition in Memphis; all the way through Court Square, all the way to City Hall.

Once we arrived at City Hall, all various and sundry people took the megaphone and spoke to the hundreds gathered.  Some, like my friends Christy, Jonathan and Will, were members or leaders of gay rights organizations and LGBT nonprofits.  Others were just regular citizens.  Amidst our cheering, a man stood up and explained that it was his deceased partner’s 50th birthday.  Nine years ago, his beloved partner took his own life, having been torn down for decades by the hateful messages he received from “moral” friends and family.  He asked that we all celebrate this day, in this space, in remembrance of his spouse.  Through the tears we all found suddenly in our eyes and on our cheeks, we did.

Many pictures were taken today.  I’ll share some that are out so far, but stay tuned, because the best are yet to come.

Somebody I know had this to say about this experience today, of a Southern town coming together, organically, to stand up and show our government and our neighbors that We Are All Memphis:

I have never been more proud of my friends and my city than I was today during the march for our rights as gay citizens of Memphis. Thank you to my hometown Stuttgart boy Michael Hildebrand, everyone who marched, and a HUGE “THANK YOU” to all my straight friends who stood beside us and supported us. I LOVE YOU ALL!

I agree, sir.  I agree.

In case anyone is curious, the number of protesters amounted to one guy riding the trolley in the opposite direction, who, as far as I could tell, simply said “fuck” a lot, as well as a bunch of other moronic unintelligible gibberish, which is the linguistic equivalent of what we hear every day from Maggie Gallagher, Peter LaBarbera, Bryan Fischer, Matt Barber, and the legal team defending Proposition 8.  Some lone dillweed shouting incomprehensible bigotry in the wind, with the aroma of literal horseshit in his path.

More pictures later on this week, from one who just might have been channeling Ernest Withers.  For now, lookit, via Christopher Reyes at Live from Memphis.  Click that link for a million more:

Quickly, there is something I want you to know about this picture. What you are looking at is a mother, her son, her daughter, her son’s partner, and her daughter’s partner. This is what the Religious Right is not talking about when they say “Family Values.” They only care about families when they conform to their rigid, mind-numbing, soul-killing notions of family. LGBT Americans and those who support us will always have the market cornered on the ACTUAL meaning of Family Values. Anyways, continue looking at pictures now.

And this last picture is what is known in some circles as a “Pooker for Equality.”  Don’t ask.

[Full disclosure:  This article is totally about one of my friends.]

National Coming Out Day is Monday, and in Memphis, that means the gays are on the march for equality.  The idea for the march formed after an inclusive nondiscrimination ordinance was tabled in the Memphis City Council because, frankly, at least half of the council wasn’t taking it seriously.  So the idea for a march was born in the head of Michael Hildebrand, who wants to send the message, in a visible way, to the citizens and lawmakers of Memphis that Memphis’s gay community is every bit as much “Memphis” as the rest of her citizens are.

Like several people that I know [and like me], Michael started out in Arkansas, though.  Arkansas, by the way, makes the best gays.  You can look it up in the Book of Gayness.  He specifically came from a little town down the road from where I grew up [in the Big City] called Stuttgart, which is famous for its German engineering, obviously.  I was glad to see the event written up in Stuttgart’s newspaper, because the message has to get out there, even in small towns in the South, that we are your friends, family, neighbors, or maybe we are your farmers!  Who knows?  Point is:  we’re everywhere.  So here’s what the residents of Stuttgart are reading in their paper today:

Segregation, bias, bigotry, discrimination … many different groups of people experience events like these across the United States. One form of discrimination that is not quite as acknowledged as the others, however, is homosexuality and one man who was raised in Stuttgart, along with his family, have organized a demonstration in Memphis to bring light to the fact that gay rights are being heavily ignored.

“We [gays] are only 10 percent of the population so nobody really [cares] about our rights,” Michael Hildebrand, who was raised in Stuttgart, said. “America is behind the curve [compared with many other countries] on gay rights.”

“I hope that this message can reach the parents and students of the Stuttgart area who need to see that gay rights are important to small towns where we grow up just as they are to larger cities,” Hildebrand said.

Too cool. I will, of course, bookmark that site now, because I’m sure next week’s letters to the editor will be hilarious.

The Memphis March for Gay Rights begins Monday afternoon at the National Civil Rights Museum, and will end at City Hall.  Many, many straight people are expected to march as well!  So that’s good.  If you’re in the area, come on by!  I will, of course, be signing autographs.

Last week, Memphis city councilwoman Janis Fullilove, at the request of the Tennessee Equality Project, pulled an inclusive nondiscrimination ordinance from consideration, because it was not getting a fair hearing.  There is always push and pull between the ideals we fight for and the sometimes uncomfortable process of getting the right laws passed, but both are necessary, and sometimes events like last week’s can ignite a spark among people, motivating them to step up and do something about it.  Michael Hildebrand, who stayed at that City Council meeting until the bitter end to deliver a memorable speech pleading with the Council to act in a way which would keep people like us from giving up on the city, has decided to take that spark and do something with it.  A gay rights march has been planned for October 11, where gay, straight, bisexual, lesbian and transgender people of all races and creeds will speak up for the equal rights of all citizens of the city of Memphis.  From the event’s Facebook page:

We are all so different in the gay community. It’s certainly hard as hell to round us all up under one idea or voice. Even though all our voices are different this is the time to speak. Speak loud and proud of your love and your life. We cannot wait anymore for politics to catch up to the way we are already living our lives. It is time to act. Please catch my fever and pass YOUR story on to other friends and family members.

I can only speak for myself, but I will no longer fight quietly, waiting longer and longer for tolerance to arrive in my city. I demand acceptance from the government. I demand my rights as a hard working, tax paying citizen of Memphis. I am Memphis. WE are Memphis.

Sounds good.

Sometimes half the battle is getting people involved, and giving them easy ways to take a stand.  If you’re frustrated with The Way Things Are in your city, get creative and do something.

Also, Facebook is your friend for things like this.  It’s not always pure evil.