Tampa Bay’s Sunshine Skyway Bridge. (Photo courtesy Jim Nixon)
ST. PETERSBURG | None of the bridges in Florida — including Tampa Bay’s Sunshine Skyway Bridge — will display rainbow lights for Pride this June. Instead they will be lit in red, white and blue from Memorial Day to Labor Day as a part of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “Freedom Summer.”
The initiative was announced April 30 for this year’s Freedom Summer Sales Tax Holiday. It takes “place the entire month of July and will make items such as fishing supplies, outdoor recreation equipment, admissions to state parks and museums sales tax free,” the governor’s office said in a press release.
On May 8, Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue added on X, formerly Twitter, that “Florida’s bridges will follow suit” in preparation for the tax holiday by lighting up in red, white and blue. The announcement effectively ended ongoing efforts to light up bridges like the Skyway for Pride.
As the bridge touches three counties — Manatee, Hillsborough and Pinellas — FDOT requires all three county commissions to approve lighting displays. St. Petersburg Service Center Director Jim Nixon, in his former capacity as the city’s LGBTQ+ liaison, began formally requesting the approvals earlier this year for St. Petersburg’s fifth annual Light Up with Pride event.
The initiative began at the height of the pandemic. It was designed to show support for the area’s LGBTQ+ community after the cancelation of St Pete Pride, the state’s largest LGBTQ+ celebration, by illuminating local businesses and landmarks in the colors of the rainbow. The Skyway has participated since 2020.
Watermark has confirmed that both Hillsborough and Pinellas County had approved the measure for 2024. According to the Tampa Bay Times, Perdue’s announcement followed an email from Manatee County Commissioner Mike Rahn advising he would not approve “lighting of the Skyway for Pride Month” this year.
“I do not have the authority to override the governor of the state [of] Florida,” Rahn added in an email to the outlet. “However, in my opinion, the lighting of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge is [an] FDOT matter and should not be left with to the individual counties.”
The decision to light Florida’s bridges in red, white and blue not only impacts the lighting of bridges for Pride, but also National Gun Violence Awareness Day, Mental Health Awareness, Juneteenth, Ovarian Cancer Awareness, Sickle Cell Awareness Day and World Fragile X Day for Autism. Watermark has reached out to FDOT for additional comment and will update this story should it be received.
“Lighting up the bridge has been a part of Light Up with Pride in St. Petersburg since 2020, and at this point we’re not going to get the bridge for this year’s event,” Nixon says. “But I do want the community to know that despite these issues and hurdles that we will light up St. Petersburg brighter and more inclusive than ever before. We hope that our community and our allies will join us in making Light Up with Pride a much bigger event this year.”
