On Wednesday, September 16, 2026, members of Middle Tennessee Humanists represented humanism at the ‘Boro Pride Spirituality Night (‘Boro is short for Murfreesboro), hosted by Reverend Dawn Bennett of Advent Lutheran Church in Murfreesboro, TN.

The event was an uplifting night of music, poetry, and expressions of the diversity of faith traditions (or lack there-of) that are accepting of LGBTQ+ people in Middle Tennessee. It was encouraging to see such beautiful displays of acceptance and love in a region that has historically discriminated against LGBTQ people.

I learned that night that Murfreesboro used to have an ordinance banning “indecent exposure, public indecency, lewd behavior, nudity or sexual conduct,” where homosexuality was explicitly defined as “sexual conduct”. In other words, Murfreesboro banned being gay, and the ‘Boro Pride festival had to be canceled/moved for years until the ordinance was overturned by a federal judge. Tennessee Equality Project was pivotal in the efforts to overturn the unconstitutional and harmful ordinance, allowing ‘Boro Pride to resume unimpeded.

However, although the ordinance was overturned in 2023, there are still a lot of anti-LGBTQ sentiments in Middle Tennessee, especially in towns like Murfreesboro. Showing up for marginalized communities, such as LGBTQ+ people, is vital. For that reason, I was happy to see all the performances by various people and organizations at the ‘Boro Pride Spirituality night.

For the humanist portion of the night, I (Alex Baker) recited a poem, titled “Dearest Star-Stuff”, written specifically for the event by Krista Westervelt, a humanist chaplain and member of MTH. Afterwards, Samantha Farmer spoke about the “Ten Commitments of Humanism”, our commonly held values. Last but not least, Steven Phelps led the crowd in a sing-along of “Imagine” by John Lennon. It felt good to show up in this way for the community.

Other performances included (among others) the Rutherford County Voices of Pride, Carter Elliott (the headliner for ‘Boro Pride 2026), and the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Murfreesboro.

As a member of Nashville in Harmony, the LGBTQ+ community choir of Nashville, I was especially pleased to meet the singers from the Ruthorford County Voices of Pride, who also sang at our last concert in June at Vine Street Christian Church. Events like this help to form the connections between communities, stitching it together into a more cohesive whole.

I came away from the event feeling encouraged and excited for the future!