Rachel Bell and Dorsha James made the ultimate commitment to one another in February of 2017: they got married. A small, intimate ceremony joined them together in matrimony.

However, the couple soon decided that a “wedding weekend” was in order, a weekend that would publicly announce and celebrate their commitment to one another. After all, Rachel, as a General Sessions Judge for Davidson County, is the first openly LGBTQ judge in Nashville history, and both she and Dorsha wanted to communicate that fact and perhaps make it a bit easier for others in the community to express their own personal beliefs or to accept the beliefs of others.

On a weekend in June of 2017, they decided to celebrate their own happiness publicly during their “Wedding Weekend.”

On the Friday evening that began the weekend event, they organized “A Night Written In The Stars.” During the evening, they shared their wedding video with all their guests, and another ceremony was celebrated along with several rounds of toasts from friends and loved ones.

The following Saturday night, an event Rachel and Dorsha chose was named the “Inaugural LOVE FEST”. Of the event, Rachel said, “….in the black community especially, we have a lot of events that we go to, a lot of galas, and they’re really nice, but if we (Rachel and Dorsha) want to dance with each other, it’s uncomfortable.” She added, “We want to create an environment where there would be people from all walks of life: people that identify, don’t identify, people that are open to love, and people that are LGBTQ-friendly, to come together.”

LOVE FEST will be celebrating its second year of people coming together that are open to love for all. This year the event will be taking place on Saturday, June 9th at the Old School Farm and Barn. Event details and tickets can be found here!

The hope is that this event will become an opportunity for people to gather together to celebrate love. As an LGBTQ couple, it’s important to have an atmosphere of freedom for the expressions of love.

As a judge and a doctor, Rachel and Dorsha have dedicated their lives to the service of the community on a professional level. They are a happily married couple that have committed their lives to further the betterment and happiness of the community on a personal and intimate level. They are committed to love, and love always wins.  

The i am . . . just human movement was started in May 2017 by Judge Rachel and Dr. Dorsha to provoke people to step away from the labels used to define individuals.  This movement encourages people to build relationships on the foundation of unconditional love.