Kentucky Historical Highway Marker honors the road to LGBTQ liberation

The intersection of Saint James Court and Belgravia Court in Old Louisville just got a little bit gayer. The Fairness Campaign joined dozens of queer people, young and old, to unveil a new historical highway marker this pride month. The bronze gilded sign honors trailblazing troublemakers who pushed Louisville to be a more inclusive space for their communities: the Louisville Gay Liberation Front (LGLF), Marjorie “Marjie” Jones and Tracey Knight.

420 Belgravia Court acted as a gathering place for 17 queer liberationists who formed the first organization to openly advocate for gay equality in July of 1970. Mickey Nelson, a founding member of the LGLF, was seventeen at the time. As a young queer woman, she couldn’t find community in Louisville bars, it left her feeling underrepresented but excited to carve out a new space for herself and those who came after her. 

“We wanted to have social outlets, we wanted to have ways that we can network, [a place] where we could decide where we wanted to go in this world, how we could come out to our parents and what sex roles were appropriate. We discussed all kinds of various ways to be in the world,” Nelson described it like she was lost in a fond memory. “And I understood immediately that there were so many people besides my little 17-year-old, white girl, suburban, self who were gay and lesbian.”

Nelson and several others moved into the home they lovingly named “The Liberation House.” She said they felt inspired by the Stonewall Riots in 1969. “That gave us the courage and the empowerment to move forward and let people know in other movements, who we are in the world, and how we want to be a part of something that brings social justice to everybody, not just us, but to everybody,” she added. 

“I lived up there,” Shannon Farms said with a proud smile on her face, sitting between her former home and the sign that now marks it as history. “In there, you were safe,” she said. “Out on the street, even outside of a gay bar, I got punched. I got knocked down. I got called names. But being in there, it was safe.”

That feeling of safety and celebration for Louisville’s queer community now lives forever on the marker that reads, “In July 1970, the LGLF became the 1st org in Ky. to openly advocate for gay equality. 17 young gay liberationists met in an apt. At 420 Belgravia Ct. owned by LGBTQ advocate Jack Kersey to protest Jones & Knight’s Denial of a marriage license. The LGLF held marches and set up the city’s 1st LGBTQ hotline & shelter as well as a gay studies course at U of L.”

Now, who were Jones & Knight and what was this business with denying a marriage license? Walk to the other side of the marker and see for yourself. It reads, “In July 1970, Marge Jones & Tracy Knight applied for a marriage license from the Jefferson Co. clerk. Denied, Jones & Knight sued, taking their case as far as the Ky. Court of Appeals. Despite an unfortunate ruling in 1973, their case marked the 1st lesbian marriage trial in U.S. history & helped inspire 21st-cen. Efforts that legalized LGBTQ marriage.”

As a crowd of excited faces watched Nelson and Farms unveil the new marker, one camera jutted out in the crowd. Behind the lens, David Williams captured the moment. He’s Louisville’s unofficial LGBTQ historian, capturing historic moments in photos and flyers. For decades, he brought those memories home to add to his collection. Now, he brings them to his archive at the University of Louisville. 

“This is great,” he said. “Hundreds of thousands of people are going to come by here in October [for the Saint James Art Show] and see this sign, and they’re it’s going to be an eye opener. Hopefully, they will think differently about gay and lesbian culture here in Louisville.”

Whether you’re attending a world-renowned art show or walking through one of Louisville’s most historic neighborhoods, you can stop by 420 Belgravia Court to see Louisville’s Liberation House.