Advocates for LGBT rights are important regardless of where they are or what field they work in, but they are needed even more in positions of political office, especially in a time when the legislative year brings dozens of anti-gay bills offered up on the state and local levels. In the Bay area, one of the most vocal advocates we have is St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman.
Kriseman was elected mayor of St. Petersburg in 2013 and has shown that he is a mayor for all the residents in the city. He is especially concerned with the needs and concerns of those groups who are traditionally disenfranchised because of sex, race, sexual orientation and gender identity.
“My philosophy has always been try and do the right thing and treat all people with respect, and hopefully they like what you’re doing,” Kriseman says during a break from our Watermark photo shoot.
The voters of St. Petersburg seem to like the way Kriseman represents them just fine. Before being elected to the most powerful seat in St. Pete, Kriseman had a successful stint as a St. Petersburg city council member and a member of the Florida House of Representatives. When Kriseman ran to become mayor he won with nearly 60 percent of the vote.
Kriseman has won WAVE Awards in the past, and this year placed first in two categories: Favorite Local Politician/Activist and Greatest Straight Ally to the LGBT Community.
When asked why he thinks Watermark’s readers voted him tops in both these categories he replies, “It’s probably because I have been doing it for so long.”
Kriseman certainly has put in the time and the energy fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with the community to get equal rights for LGBT people since the early ‘90s, when he was a part of the Tampa Bay Business Guild.
“I’ve always participated in Pride events going back to my business guild days and even signed the first proclamation for St. Pete Pride when I was on the city council,” Kriseman says.
Kriseman carried that commitment to the LGBT community into the mayor’s office being the first to hoist a rainbow flag over city hall during Pride weekend in 2014, his first year in office. In 2015, he welcomed same-sex couples into City Hall so they could exchange vows. Kriseman even officiated a same-sex wedding on the steps of City Hall’s interior foyer.
At the end of 2015, our mayor showed us just how much he stands for equality, diversity and inclusion when he made national headlines standing against bigot and xenophobe Donald Trump.
After Trump called for a total and complete ban on Muslims into the United States, Kriseman tweeted, “I am hereby barring Donald Trump from entering St. Petersburg until we fully understand the dangerous threat posed by all Trumps.”
Kriseman’s tweet went viral and was retweeted almost 20,000 times. While he later told the Tampa Bay Times that it was in jest, he did say to anyone wanting to come to the Tampa Bay area that we do not tolerate hate.
“What I think makes St. Petersburg a great city and truly a city of opportunity is that we’re truly a diverse, tolerant community. There really isn’t a place for narrow-mindedness and those kinds of positions,” Kriseman says.
