Orlando – It isn’t the first time Mother Nature has dampened the spirits of revelers hoping for a celebration of LGBTQ Pride. Back in 2011, Orlando’s Come Out With Pride board had to postpone its annual festival and parade due to rain. This time, though, things looked a little more serious. With what could have been a direct hit from a Category 5 Hurricane Matthew swirling across television screens and computer forecasts, the board – already reeling from necessary redirection due to the Pulse massacre on June 12 – had to make a decision. And it didn’t have time on its side. Concerns rose early.
“We were certainly concerned in the days leading up to the Oct. 8 event, and even as early as Tuesday at the meeting before the event, we were looking at the weather, and we were saying, ‘Oh, this hurricane!’” Come Out With Pride director of marketing and communications Jeff Prystajko says. “We had several meetings: board meetings, volunteer meetings. In the end, we had some very frank and open conversations as to what would happen.”
It was by no means an easy cancellation to make. Board chatter led to social media chatter in a way that it really hasn’t before. Initial complaints before the cancellation often targeted the softening of Pride, or at least its implied lack of political leanings. There were measures discussed in vendor emails that involved political action groups marking their booths to indicate their advocacy, something those close to the event have told Watermark was a service and not a means of censorship. But with an event expected to draw up to 200,000 people a month before a presidential election and just a few months after a local massacre, emotions were high. When it came down to it, safety prevailed, even if the storm would have passed by Saturday, Oct. 8.
“We thought, even though the forecast looks great on Saturday, and there will probably be some unhappy people, we’re putting people at risk,” Prystajko says. “In no case would we want to have force people to come to a Pride parade, which really isn’t as important given the context of a hurricane.”
Now the parade will happen on Nov. 12, the weekend after the election. This time with a twist. The Veteran’s Day Parade happens downtown on the same day.
“We are incredibly grateful to the city of Orlando as well as the Veterans Advisory Council for their cooperation and sharing of the venue following the annual Veteran’s Day Parade from 11 a.m.-1 p.m.,” Come Out With Pride board president Brian Reha said in an Oct. 12 press release. “We hope that both our audiences will be able to share in even more festivities.”
The Come Out With Pride parade is still planning a 4 p.m. launch.
As for the fallout for planned Pride attractions, details are still in the works, Prystajko says. The Taste of Pride event and VIP experience are still in the offing, though some of the chefs previously involved may not be able to make the rescheduled date (refunds are available). Some of the entertainment is shifting, new sponsors are being courted and details will become clearer as November approaches.
“I guess, in a general way, I would say that in Orlando, we’ve been through a lot. We suffered through a lot of tragedy in June,” Prystajko says. “A hurricane came and tried to set us back. We’re not going to let anything set us back.”
