NASHVILLE, Tenn. (MARSHALL) -- Nashville Pride Festival will take place in downtown Nashville this weekend.
The event will feature musical entertainment, drag, and an equality march to support members of the LGBT community.
Nashville Pride president Phil Cobucci moved to Nashville nine years ago from New York City. He’s been active in the LGBT community since then, and five years ago he got involved with Nashville Pride, lending the skills he uses at his marketing company.
“Change is coming, and it’s coming rapidly, but that doesn’t mean that we can sit back. There’s still so much that needs to be done in terms of equality, in terms of understanding.”
Cobucci acknowledges the strides that Nashville has taken toward equality, but says he also recognizes surrounding areas do not all have the same accepting climate.
“There are people just outside of Nashville that still do not feel comfortable to come out and be in their own skin. And that Pride is that one time of the year that they can come out and walk into our festival gates and feel completely free.”
Cobucci says Nashville Pride Festival has special meaning for him as well.
“Pride has a lot of different meanings for me, and what’s beautiful is that in every person that I walk past and every person that I see at Pride I see value and I see beauty and I see peace and I see love and I see grace in them.”
Visit the festival’s website if you’d like to learn more.