ABOVE: Supporters flood Sims Park for the inaugural Pasco Pride Oct. 6, 2018. Photo courtesy Pasco Pride.
NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. | The second annual Pasco Pride will be held Sept. 29-Oct. 6, expanding from a one-day festival to unite Pasco County’s growing LGBTQ community.
Pasco Pride made history with its inaugural outing in 2018, becoming the first LGBTQ Pride festival held in the county. The organization has since dedicated itself to fostering communication, tolerance, education and mutual support between the area’s LGBTQ advocates and allies.
“This year has been all about building community, laying our groundwork and finding out what people actually need from us,” Pasco Pride President Nina Borders says. “What does Pride mean in Pasco? It’s different than it is in Tampa, St. Petersburg or Orlando.”
Borders, who served as vice president during Pasco Pride’s inaugural festival, says the organization wanted to immerse itself in the community. That led to expanding its monthly Drag Queen Story Hours, now by invitation only to discourage protestors, in which the reigning Miss Pasco Pride Stephanie Stuart reads books to children.
Pasco Pride also adopted a one-mile section of Moon Lake Road in June via Pasco County’s Adopt-a-Road program, a stretch previously claimed by the white supremacist hate group the Ku Klux Klan. “We’re not only a group that throws a Pride festival,” Borders says. “We’re an organization that protects the community and operates 365 days a year to meet the needs of all.”
This year’s festivities will officially begin with the Mister & Miss Pasco Pride Pageant on Sept. 29 from 8 a.m.-midnight at The Asylum. New Port Richey’s LGBTQ hotspot will welcome hosts D.C. and Delores T. Van Cartier as reigning Pasco Pride royalty Vyn Suazion and Stuart each crown their respective successors.
A screening of “The Lavender Scare” will follow Oct. 3 from 7-10 p.m. at the historic Richey Suncoast Theater. The documentary chronicles the mass firing of gay and lesbian federal workers in the early 1950s. Historian and University of South Florida Professor David K. Johnson, who wrote the book which inspired the film, will host a Q&A.
“We’re so excited about the screening,” Borders says. “This is our history.”
On Oct. 5, Pasco Pride will hold its inaugural block party at Railroad Square from 4-8 p.m. The event will feature live music, food, drinks, vendors and performers from throughout the area. “The city, local businesses and bars are all excited about it,” Borders explains. “We’re going to bring in the LGBTQ community and our allies from all over to help solidify our presence.”
Pasco Pride Week will conclude Oct. 6 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at Sims Park with the organization’s second annual festival. “We estimated about 2,500 people came through last year,” Borders says. “This year we’re looking to double that.”
The festival will begin with opening ceremonies led by Florida House Rep. Anna V. Eskamani, a self-described “LGBTQ accomplice,” and Florida House Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, the state’s first openly LGBTQ Latino lawmaker. “They’re riveting speakers,” Borders says. “People should definitely get there early.”
It will also feature headlining performances from entertainers including Larmani and Vyn Suazion, as well as music from DJ T.C. Czaritsa. Momma Ashley Rose of The Rose Dynasty Foundation will host and welcome a number of fellow drag performers.
A detailed schedule of events can be found below:
“We’re a grassroots Pride and the only way we can really grow is through the help of everyone in the community,” Borders says. “We want people to come out, have a great time and show their pride—Pasco Pride is for everyone.”
The second annual Pasco Pride will be held Sept. 29-Oct. 6. For more information, visit PascoPrideFestival.org.
