"The Citizen is on the line," an American Civil Liberties Union staffer would frequently announce, sticking her head into my office. "The Citizen" was George Barrett, and the nickname was more than a moniker to him — it was a life's work.
Last November, Chattanooga embraced fairness and equality by adding protections for sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression to the city's nondiscrimination ordinance and offering domestic partnership benefits to city employees.
I still remember feeling nervous giddiness walking into Nashville's Centennial Park on that hot, humid June day 21 years ago when I attended my first LGBT Pride celebration.