MT. DORA, Fla. – Just a month after Lakeland brought Polk County Pride to Central Florida, another LGBT organization has set up shop in a traditionally conservative town. Mount Dora Pride made their first appearance in Lake County, marching in the Fourth of July parade.
“I think what is significant about this was that it is of course not a gay pride parade or gay event,” said Bill Sievert, President of Mount Dora Pride. “I think that this is the first time that I know of in Central Florida that any gay organization has had a float in a city’s municipal parade and the fact that that is happening in Lake County, which is traditionally considered a conservative area, I think it was a rather bold step.”
The gay community has been growing in Lake County over the last several years. Mount Dora in particular, known for its art culture and antique shops, has seen an increase in LGBT population.
“A lot of gay people have moved here from South Florida and from up north,” Sievert said. “The area just became a magnet and we got the sense that there was enough interest that we could [create an LGBT group].”
Lake County has had an active LGBT group for the last nine years called The Triangle Connection.
“The Triangle Connection hosts monthly meet-and-greets and serves as a networking group,” Sievert said.
Last year, members of The Triangle Connection put together a fundraiser for Equality Florida in Mount Dora that raised $13,000 for marriage equality.
“Equality Florida was blown away by what we could do in Lake County,” Sievert said. “We started thinking, ‘What else can we get involved in?’ and we have wanted to do something with Pride for years.”
The members of The Triangle Connection that had organized the Equality Florida event decided to create a non-profit, Mount Dora Pride, Inc.
“We came together and we are going to do a Pride celebration,” Sievert said. “We didn’t want to just rush into it as these things take time, so we decided to introduce ourselves with a float in the Lake County Fourth of July parade.”
Mount Dora Pride marched with 50 people, both from The Triangle Connection and from the local high school’s GSA.
“There was still some trepidation going into this. Even though it was a tiny event in a small town, it felt like those big events I marched in during the 1970’s in San Francisco and Washington D.C. because this was the first one,” Sievert said. “We know there are a lot of conservative fundamentalists in this region that come out to these kind of parades, so we just held our breath and hoped no one would be too rude or nasty.”
Mount Dora Pride handed out more than 2,500 rainbow colored beads with anti-bullying messages attached to them to a cheering and accepting crowd and plan to do the same thing atthe 55th Annual Mount Dora Holiday Parade on December 5.
“It was spectacular. We were all teary-eyed from all the cheers we were getting, they were shouting encouragement and applauding,” Sievert said. “Within a few hours after the parade we got an email from a 14-year-old boy who said he had been having such a difficult time coming out in this town, but to see so many gay people out on the streets, it gave him so much encouragement to just be himself and that’s exactly what this all was about.”
Mount Dora Pride will hold their first ever LGBT Street Fair April 9, 2016, taking over Alexander Street in front of the Chamber of Commerce.
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