Tolerance - a nascent notion in Nashville

My favorite wine store in Nashville is Midtown Wine and Spirits on Church St. The store is huge, their selection is broader than any other store in town, and their staff really do make good suggestions.

Yesterday I realized I was down to the last bottle of my current favorite red wine, Casillero del Diablo Carmenere. Midtown carries it at a good price, so I headed down there quickly before they closed.

For those not familiar with this part of town, this little one or two block area of Church St. is the emerging gay district in Nashville. There are a couple of very popular nightclubs here. It gets very busy on a Saturday night. And close to closing time, Midtown Wine's parking lot was already full.

I did manage to find a spot on the street though. As I was parallel parking, a car drove nearly right up to the side of my car (despite that this is a two lane street and the lane to the left was empty), and laid on the horn while the passenger rolled down the window and yelled, "Move your ass, you fucking faggot."

Was this car so inconvenienced by my attempt to park? Was I blocking traffic and not allowing him to pass? No, not at all. He simply thought I was one of those queers going to the gay nightclub and wanted to express his redneck right to gay bash.

It makes me wonder... if this happened while I was just quickly running into the liquor store, how often does this happen? Is this what the patrons of the gay clubs on Church St. are subjected to every night? Sadly, probably so.

I just don't get the fear and ignorance that drives discrimination and hostility toward others who might be "different", whether that's race, religion, or sexual orientation. It really comes down to an insecurity on the part of those who discriminate.

Sometimes I like to think Nashville is a pretty tolerant and progressive city. But then, sometimes I get a dose of reality like this. I do think, and hope, this kind of ignorance is diminishing. But any incidence like this is one too many.