ABOVE: Rep. Charlie Crist (L) Mayor Rick Kriseman (C) and St Pete Pride VP Nathan Bruemmer (R) raise the Pride flag at City Hall June 1. Photo via Rep. Crist.
ST. PETERSBURG | Mayor Rick Kriseman and a group of community leaders recognized the beginning of LGBTQ Pride Month June 1 by raising the Pride flag at City Hall.
The gathering was intentionally small and socially distant. While normally attended en masse by the city’s LGBTQ-inclusive community, this year it was broadcast live via social media in response to COVID-19.
The mayor began by recognizing those in attendance, including Congressman Charlie Crist, City Council Vice-Chair Gina Driscoll, LGBTQ Liaisons Jim Nixon and Markus Hughes as well as representatives from St Pete Pride, Florida’s largest LGBTQ celebration. The coronavirus prompted the organization to cancel in-person festivities this year.
Kriseman began his address by thanking those gathered for their work to make St. Petersburg a beautiful and inclusive city, soon turning to current events. “I want to say a word about this moment we find ourselves in,” he shared.
“We are in the middle of a global pandemic that has claimed the lives of more than 100,000 Americans – including one of our LGBTQ champions here in St. Pete, Mr. Bob Barnum,” Kriseman continued. “Today when we raise the flag we also pay tribute to him and all others.”
Kriseman noted that the country also finds itself in a time of civil unrest, as protests mount across the nation in response to the murder of George Floyd. “I know this is not unfamiliar territory for our LGBTQ community – after all it was just last year that we marked the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots,” he said. “And this is certainly not unfamiliar territory as it relates to race in America. In fact, sadly it’s all too common.”
He added that every St. Petersburg elected official grieves and feels anger, “not over just the loss of George Floyd’s life but the racial injustice that is pervasive in our society. We too have had enough.
“But today, while mindful of all that is not right in the world, we must do what we always do in St. Pete – and that’s to look ahead to brighter days,” Kriseman said. “We won’t be having a Pride parade or festival this year, but we will still celebrate and there will still be a lot of Pride in our community.”
St Pete Pride Vice President Nathan Bruemmer spoke next, reflecting on the circumstances that led to this year’s cancellation. Calling it “one of the toughest decisions we’ve ever made,” he explained that the safety of our community made it necessary.
Bruemmer also reflected on LGBTQ history, systemic racism and St Pete Pride’s mission to lift up all LGBTQ voices. “This more than ever right now is about hope,” he said of the Pride flag’s raising. “For our entire country, for all of us who have been marginalized, who have been oppressed, who have been victims of the systems and the structures that exist in this country. We all come together and we feel that moment here.”
Rep. Crist subsequently called the flag raising an important recognition for the city’s LGBTQ community, thanking leadership for ensuring it moved forward. He shared that it signaled “that all in St. Petersburg, one of the friendliest places in the world, understand how important our entire community is.”
Watch the ceremony in full below:
Kriseman subsequently reflected on the ceremony and Pride via social media:
“Pride is about more than one parade or one month,” Crist also shared. “It is about the love and acceptance you show towards yourself and others, no matter the circumstances. Happy #PrideMonth to our amazing Pinellas LGBTQ community!”
The representative’s St. Petersburg office will join a growing number of landmarks throughout the city in its “Light Up with Pride” event this evening. LGBTQ Liaison Jim Nixon launched the initiative for Pride Month, inviting St. Petersburg landmarks to proudly display their Pride colors.
The growing list of participating locations include the Grand Central District, the Metro LGBTQ Welcome Center, the Museum of Fine Arts and more. A full list and additional details are available at the “Light Up with Pride” Facebook event page.
“There is no city better to show our Pride in than St. Pete,” Nixon shared with Watermark. “I love that we can recognize the importance of our local LGBTQ community and the diversity that makes us a welcoming community.”
For more information about St Pete Pride, visit StPetePride.com. For the latest updates about COVID-19 and its impact on the LGBTQ communities in Tampa Bay and Central Florida, view Watermark’s frequently updated coverage here.
