Fight For Justice, LGBTQ+ Rights Part Of St. Pete Pride Month Kickoff

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — The kickoff to Pride Month in St. Petersburg marking the struggle for LGBTQ+ rights was the springboard for Mayor Ken Welch's critique of Gov. Ron DeSantis' Parental Rights in Education bill, called the "Don't Say Gay" bill by opponents.

Welch raised the Pride flag for the first time since taking office Wednesday morning in front of St. Petersburg City Hall to mark the beginning of Pride month. City council members and St. Pete Pride Executive Director Nicole Berman joined Welch at the flag pole to commemorate St. Pete Pride's 20th anniversary.

Before Welch raised the flag, he told the audience he stood with the city's LGBTQ+ community.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere," Welch said. "And together, we will continue to fight discrimination in every form against our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters. We cannot and will not stand silent while our fundamental rights of freedom, choice, and self-determination are stripped away by anyone or any organization, including politicians in Washington and Tallahassee.

"The LGBTQ+ community is our community. They are our brothers and sisters, our neighbors, our colleagues, our family — they matter, and I'm proud to stand with you as mayor of St. Petersburg and raise this flag, especially at a time like this," he said.

Welch condemned the "Don't Say Gay" law, which prohibits instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade. According to the state's website, the bill goes into effect on July 1.

"But here, when you say, 'Don't Say Gay,' then how are you impacting that teacher who has a student that might have a differently structured family who might have two moms, two dads? And you're impacting that teacher's ability to educate students to respond to that student," Welch said. "And critical race theory — then you're impacting the ability of teachers to teach the true factual history of slavery, racism and Jim Crow. If you don't understand how you got here, you can't craft a path forward."

DeSantis signed the HB 7 bill into law on April 22 that bans teaching critical race theory in classrooms. The governor's website said the bill includes provisions to prevent discriminatory instruction in the workplace and public schools and defines individual freedoms based on the fundamental truth that all individuals are equal before the law and have inalienable rights.

Some of the other attendees at the Pride flag-raising Wednesday included Jim Nixon, St. Pete LGBTQ liaison, who told Patch that after two years of Pride festivities disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, even more people are ready to celebrate Pride, especially since it's the city's 20th Pride anniversary.

"We'll have a good turnout," Nixon said. "And people are ready to get back to some normality after the pandemic. And we also have political unrest in the state. We see attacks against the LGBTQ community. That motivates our community to come out and be visible and be seen."

Nixon said the city expects this month's attendance to exceed Pride month in 2019, with 260,000 in attendance from the LGBTQ+ community and heterosexual community. Nixon predicts 310,000 will join in the Pride festivities throughout June.

For St. Pete Pride events happening throughout June, visit St. Pete Pride.

Patch Related Stories

• FL Student Can't Say 'Gay' In Grad Speech, Discusses His Curls Instead
• 'Don't Say Gay' Student Activist Joins Hagen Brody's Campaign Team