The Queer Eye for Nashville: How LGBTQ People form Community, and Make Spaces, and Places…Like Everyone Else

Abstract

In the past thirty years the LGBTQ community has become increasingly studied within academia. However, it is only in the past decade that their spaces and places have begun to be examined. When one narrows this down even further to New South cities, practically nothing exists. The LGBTQ community utilizes spaces to create communities like any other people, even in southern cities. This thesis examines how the LGBTQ community formed using space and places within the city of Nashville. The period of examination is decade before the AIDS crisis, and the AIDS crisis itself. The methodology of historic preservation, community, and oral histories are used throughout the argument.