Trailblazing Black trans singer Jackie Shane finally gets her due in Tennessee

By Dan Allen, NBC

Hers is the most unconventional of success stories, but Jackie Shane wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Once nearly lost to obscurity, Shane’s important contributions to soul music and LGBTQ heritage will finally be officially recognized with a historical marker in her hometown of Nashville on Friday evening. The memorial is especially significant for its setting in the capital of Tennessee, where trans rights have recently been targeted. 

“To my knowledge, it’s the first official trans marker in the state of Tennessee,” said Sarah Calise, founder of Nashville Queer History, who along with Shane’s family championed the marker with the city’s Metropolitan Historical Commission and chose its site along Jefferson Street in North Nashville, the historic hub of the city’s Black community.

The marker’s dedication will feature performances by a host of Nashville-based LGBTQ performers like singer Crys Matthews and speeches from local dignitaries including Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell and Tennessee’s first trans lawmaker, Olivia Hill.

“I think this is really important, because there’s this common misconception that transgender identity is recent, that it’s something of the 21st century,” Calise told NBC News. “When we take a look at history and at people like Jackie Shane, we realize this is an identity and a gender diversity that’s existed for decades — and if we look even further, we could say centuries. But here in Nashville, we can point to someone born in 1940 who felt this way about their gender identity.”

Discover more about Shane’s unusual life.

Violence against Black trans people is unfortunately common.

More news about extraordinary Black people.