ABOVE: Katina (L) and the late Terra Winthrop (R) with Mister and Miss Pasco Pride 2019. Photo courtesy Pasco Pride.
NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. | Pasco Pride has named its community leadership scholarship after the late Terra Winthrop, a lifetime advocate for Tampa Bay’s LGBTQ community.
Winthrop was instrumental in Pasco Pride’s expansion following its 2018 launch. She died Nov. 27, 2020 at the age of 47 and is survived by her wife Katina and their four children.
The nonprofit’s community-funded, post-secondary education scholarship program began last year. It was made available to seniors that explained their LGBTQ advocacy and more and awarded to Carolyn Emerson Dec. 16, 2020.
“Pasco Pride is deeply honored to announce that we are naming our scholarship after the beloved Terra Winthrop,” the organization announced Jan. 24. “Terra spent her time mentoring and advocating for the LGBTQ+ community in Pasco. She was a talented leader and made our 2019 Pride Festival and Pageant spectacular events.”
Read the organization’s full announcement below:
In addition to her work with Pride, Winthrop also spent 14 years with the Pasco County Sheriff’s Department as a School Resource Officer. The position allowed her to mentor youth and inspired her to obtain her Master’s degree in Strategic Leadership. You can read her full obituary here.
“My wife was and always will be a large staple in our beautiful community,” Katina Winthrop says. “She shared her passion with everyone who entered our lives.”
Pasco Pride President Nina Borders strongly agrees. She met Terra in 2018 while serving as the organization’s vice president and credits her for extending an olive branch to the community at large.
“When I took over as president Terra and Katina were some of the first people I reached out to in order to build an organization around community activism and support,” Borders explains. “She was so heavily involved in Pasco County.”
“When Nina contacted me and explained the scholarship, I was filled with so many emotions,” Katina says. “I was excited that Terra’s legacy will remain for years to come and proud because others see how truly special she was.
“There was a sense of sadness that she won’t be here to see this,” she adds, “but I’m thankful because I will be able to be a part of this opportunity and stand in her place. On behalf of our family, I would like to thank Pasco Pride for acknowledging my wonderful wife and allowing her legacy to continue in a community she loved!”
Pasco Pride hopes to award the next Terra Winthrop Community Leadership Scholarship by May. The organization launched fundraising efforts Jan. 25, offering a Pasco Pride T-shirt, bracelet, sticker and personalized Valentine to donors who contribute $50 or more.
“Terra was a parental figure for the entire queer community and people really leaned on her and loved her,” Borders says. “We named this community scholarship for our youth because that’s what she did: give people a chance.”
In addition to its scholarship program benefiting area youth, Pasco Pride also announced the return of its Drag Queen Story Hour. After nearly a year, the organization will host a COVID-conscious, outdoor reading at ZenfiniTea Feb. 13 at 1 p.m.
“Our reader is the glamorous and elegant Pasco Pride Queen Stephanie Stuart, with music and entertainment provided by Mr. Vyn Suazion,” Pasco Pride shared. “This is a safe place for children to be transported to a time where dinosaurs ruled the earth and kingdoms with princes and princesses scattered the land. The only thing needed for this exciting time is a mask and an IMAGINATION!”
To learn more about Pasco Pride and the Terra Winthrop Community Leadership Scholarship, visit PascoPrideFestival.org. To make a donation to the scholarship’s Valentine fundraiser, click here.
