Karl Dean is the first Tennessee mayor to join “Mayors for the Freedom to Marry.”

 Welcome to Nashville: The San Francisco of the South. 

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Office of the Mayor Press Release – Mayor Karl Dean today joined Mayors for the Freedom to Marry, a bipartisan group of mayors who support marriage equality at all levels of government. In joining them, he signed the group’s Freedom to Marry statement and released this statement:

“I believe that all people should be treated fairly and equally and that their individual dignity should be respected. Embracing and celebrating our growing diversity makes our city stronger. Nashville needs to continue in that direction, and it’s my hope that joining this effort will help us do that.”

Nashville's Mayor Karl Dean has become the first mayor in Tennessee to take the “Mayors for the Freedom to Marry”  pledge. Below is the statement he endorsed by joining "Mayors for Freedom to Marry."

As mayors of great American cities, we proudly stand together in support of the freedom of same-sex couples to marry. We personally know many gay and lesbian people living in our cities who are in committed, loving relationships, who are active participants in the civic life of our communities, and who deserve to be able to marry the person with whom they share their life.    

We are proud that at its 2009 annual meeting, the U.S. Conference of Mayors unanimously approved a resolution stating that: “The U.S. Conference of Mayors supports marriage equality for same-sex couples, and the recognition and extension of full equal rights to such unions, including family and medical leave, tax equity, and insurance and retirement benefits, and opposes the enshrinement of discrimination in the federal or state constitutions.”    

Our cities derive great strength from their diversity, and gay and lesbian families are a crucial part. Studies have shown what we know through our hands-on experience—that cities that celebrate and cultivate diversity are the places where creativity and ideas thrive. They are the places where today’s entrepreneurs are most likely to choose to build the businesses of tomorrow. Allowing same-sex couples the right to marry enhances our ability to build this kind of environment, which is good for all of us.       

We stand for the freedom to marry because it enhances the economic competitiveness of our communities, improves the lives of families that call our cities home, and is simply the right thing to do.  We look forward to working to build an America where all people can share in the love and commitment of marriage with the person with whom they share their life.

Recently Nashville provided Metro employee benefits to same-sex couples.  For several years Nashville has actively promoted the normalization of homosexuality among young people by sponsoring the Youth Pavilion at the Gay Pride Festival and now the Mayor takes a stand in favor of  gay marriage. Welcome to Nashville: The San Francisco of the South.

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