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CLARKSVILLE, TN (NOW CLARKSVILLE) – In the 1980s, being gay in Clarksville meant your personal life had to be extremely private. For 62-year-old Amanda Leigh, much of this resulted from widespread misconceptions about what being gay actually meant.
“Back then, a lot of people just didn’t know what gay meant. So many people thought being gay meant being a pedophile, a predator, you wanted their children, you wanted to convert everyone, ”Leigh told Clarksville Now. “They didn’t know what it meant and they weren’t interested in learning anything.”
Attitudes have changed dramatically over the past 40 years; so much so that Clarksville now has an openly queer person sitting on the Ashlee Evans town council in Ward 11. During Pride month in June, Clarksville Now delved into the local history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender life. While we discovered some moments of joy and prosperity, we also found times of discrimination and danger.
This is not a comprehensive history of LGBTQ life in Clarksville – there is no doubt that LGBTQ life existed long before 1979. Instead, it’s a snapshot of moments that helped define Clarksville’s legacy in the fight for equality.
Clip from the All State, Austin Peay’s student newspaper, about the SCGR decision of October 17, 1979 (Courtesy Austin Peay Archive for Scholarly Publication, Innovation and Research Experience).
1979: APSU Student Coalition for Gay Rights lawsuit
In the fall of 1978, several Austin Peay State University students organized a group called the Student Coalition for Gay Rights.
Students applied for recognition from the university’s Student Government Association; official recognition would allow the group to hold meetings on campus and apply for funds to host events.
While the group’s application was initially approved, SCGR received a letter from the Vice President for Student Affairs in February 1979 denying them recognition, according to documents in the APSU’s archives and special collections at the Woodward Library. Reasons for denying group recognition included concerns about what the community would think and that allowing the group to allow its activity would mean that the university was an advocate of homosexuality.
Homosexuality was still illegal at the time and remained illegal in Tennessee until 1996.
Following a federal dispute, the university was forced to recognize the group in October 1979 when a judge ruled that students’ primary rights were abbreviated.
This made the SCGR Tennessee’s first state university student organization dedicated to gay rights. In addition, the litigation became a landmark case regarding the rights of the First Amendment and was taught in law schools such as Yale.
Bill Dannenmaier, one of the plaintiffs in the case, said his involvement as a straight man helped fuel the SCGR case.
“It helped keep the discussion going about freedom of assembly, not perception or ‘lifestyle’ or behavior. We now know that the term “lifestyle” is kind of bigoted because it is who the people are. They didn’t choose, ”Dannenmaier told Clarksville Now.
“It’s a better world, and this case partly helped make it so,” he said.
The group has changed its name over the past 40 years and now exists on the APSU campus as the Sexuality and Gender Alliance.
Amanda Leigh in the Cooper’s General Store in 1979 (Courtesy Amanda Leigh).
1979: Opening of the first gay club
Where Kimo’s Hawaiian Grill is in downtown Clarksville used to be a small, members-only club called Cooper’s General Store. Over the door was the acronym CGS, which in public meant Cooper’s General Store.
For those who were club members, however, CGS meant the Clarksville Gay Society. It opened on October 27, 1979 and was founded as a private club.
Although CGS wasn’t open long, it was a place of gay celebration and liberation and featured drag performances. Clarksville drag queen Amanda Leigh, now 62, served on the CGS board of directors. She said privacy was necessary due to public perception and the laws of the time.
Reacting to one’s homosexuality was still illegal in Tennessee; the anti-sodomy law was not overturned by the state’s Supreme Court until 1996, nearly 20 years later. Leigh and others said police and Army Criminal Police officers entered the club multiple times to intimidate members. Clarksville Now could not find any documentation on these claims.
CGS closed on April 6, 1980 due to word of mouth about possible action against the club.
In July 1981, Haberdashery opened, one of several gay bars that opened and closed in downtown Clarksville in the 1980s and 90s.
Trice Landing Park in Clarksville on July 2, 2021 (Keely Quinlan).
1981: Trice Landing bust
While Trice Landing Park is now known for its fishing boat ramp and views of the Cumberland River, it was once a prime spot for gay cruising and a high-profile police raid.
According to Leaf Chronicle Archives, Clarksville Police Department Vice Squad officers set up spike operations to arrest gay men who went into the park looking for connections.
In the spring of 1981, 14 men were arrested during a covert police operation. They have been charged with offenses such as crimes against nature, attempting to commit a crime, and common law lewdness.
The Journal Chronicle repeatedly published the names, addresses and often their places of work in order to report on the arrests and legal proceedings. This was common practice at the time; the practice has since changed.
Several of the men received pre-trial distractions and a handful pleaded guilty.
One of the men, Pete Wenger, a professor at APSU, died on January 30, 1982 after falling from a cliff along the Red River. He had left his house the night before and threatened suicide because of the media coverage.
A portrait of P’Knutts hanging in Amanda Leigh’s home on June 21, 2021 (Keely Quinlan).
1992: murder of P’Knutts
P’Knutts was a 38-year-old drag queen who lived in Clarksville. P’Knutts, born Jerry Cope, worked as a bartender at Brown Derby, a tavern then located at 321 Commerce St.
On the evening of January 13, 1992, it was closed for the night when a robbery is suspected. In the process, P’Knutts was stabbed and killed, according to the Leaf-Chronicle archives. The murder is still unsolved.
Leigh and P’Knutts were best friends, and Leigh told Clarksville Now that she had found some peace in the nearly 30 years since losing her boyfriend.
“It’s still so heartbreaking and I still miss her very much,” said Leigh. “In my heart I know who did it, but both of them are dead.”
A painted portrait of her friend hangs in Leigh’s house. And after the murder, Leigh said, attitudes in town towards drag artists and transgender people changed drastically.
Pfc. Barry Winchell, US Army.
1999: murder of Pfc. Barry Winchell
Pfc. Barry Winchell was a 21-year-old gay soldier stationed at Fort Campbell. On July 5, 1999, after a fight with comrades related to Winchell’s sexuality, Winchell was hit with a baseball bat in his sleep. The following day, Winchell died at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Winchell’s death attracted national attention, and in particular resulted in a “don’t ask, don’t say” military policy introduced in 1994 by then-President Bill Clinton that allowed LGBTQ individuals to serve in the military as long as their sexual orientation changed did not make it public.
Months later, Clinton admitted policy failures, citing Winchell’s death as he questioned how the policy had been implemented, according to the New York Times archives.
Winchell’s death also prompted the Pentagon to order staff training courses in 2000 to prevent harassment of LGBTQ people, the Times reported.
Two soldiers were charged: Pvt. Calvin N. Glover was found guilty of premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison with parole. Spec. Justin R. Fisher was sentenced to 12 1/2 years in a plea.
In 2010, President Barack Obama’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which allows gays, lesbians and bisexuals to speak openly about their sexuality, was repealed.
Headline for the first annual Clarksville Pride event, Journal Chronicle May 21, 2005 (Newspapers.com archives).
2005: Clarksville’s first pride
In 2005 David Shelton organized the first Pride celebration, which was held on May 21st. It was sponsored by the Christian Community Church of Clarksville and was held in what was then Fairgrounds Park, now Liberty Park.
Over 800 people came in the first year and 1200 the next year, in 2006.
Though it was a fun, community-oriented event with bouncy castles, face painting, and music, Shelton said the deaths of Winchell and P’Knutts were the motivators.
“With Pride we wanted to try to do everything possible to address these two events. Back then it was also called “don’t ask, don’t say” and there was no equality in marriage. … There are all of these things we have today that I hope no one takes for granted, ”Shelton told Clarksville Now. “That was the setting, so if we knew we were going to have Pride in Clarksville, we had to honor these two people.”
Tributes have been paid and a portrait of P’Knutts auctioned – the same one that now hangs in Leigh’s house.
“The whole event was about Pride, not just to see where we came from, but also to tell the whole community, ‘We’re here, we’re queer. How can we help now? ‘”Shelton said.
Front cover of The Leaf-Chronicle featuring the wedding of Travis and Michael VanZant on June 27, 2015 (Newspapers.com Archives).
2015: First same-sex marriage in Clarksville
On June 26, 2015, the US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in the Obergefell v Hodges case, declaring same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states.
That day, Travis VanZant and future husband Michael were the first to arrive at the Montgomery County Clerk’s office for marriage.
“We were planning to go to another state to get married, and it just so happened that they legalized it in all 50 states,” said Travis of the spontaneous decision he and Michael made.
They were together for six months when they got married and were just celebrating their sixth anniversary.
Although VanZant and his husband have faced several lawsuits, including difficulty adopting children and securing health insurance through each other’s jobs, they have fostered several children together and continue to hope to one day adopt.
“Being with the person I love and not having to worry anymore is great,” said Travis.
MORE: LGBTQ Clarksville on what it means to go from self-acceptance to pride
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