PINELLAS CO., Fla. — This Pride month, one local advocate is working to educate people about LGBTQ+ rights.
"If justice is what love looks like in public, Nadine Smith is what love looks like in motion," said Rev. Andy Oliver with the Allendale United Methodist Church in St. Pete.
With years of work, Nadine Smith is a force to be reckoned with.
WATCH: Local activist fights for LGBTQ+ rights and celebrates Pride month
"People don't realize the talent and the gift that we have in this community, the resources that she has, the global connections that she has," said Rev. J.C. Pritchett II with Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance.
She's the founder of Equality Florida, an advocacy group for the LGBTQ+ community, and it was started right here in St. Petersburg.
"I came to this work as a journalist…I did not expect to become an activist, but when you cover things, and you begin to see patterns and you begin to understand the dynamics that are unfolding, it becomes harder and harder to not speak up," Smith said.
With over three decades devoted to fighting for LGBTQ+ rights, she made the Times Top 100 Most Influential People of 2022.
"Her advocacy, her work has turned pain into power and protest into policy…not only for LGBTQ people but for all people," Oliver said.
"One of the reasons I think she is so kind is because she knows the opposite of that…what the other is, what the opposite is, what the outcast is," Pritchett II said.
She's fought laws that have targeted the LGBTQ+ community and has met with leaders like President Bill Clinton…and civil rights leader, Reverend Jesse Jackson.
Smith said her passion for advocacy is ingrained in her.
"We know what the past looked like we know what it was like to live in a place where we were treated as criminals, where our rights were denied," Smith said.
This pride month, she said her work is more important than ever. With rising tensions around the country, she's happy to see one of the largest turnouts for Pride in St. Pete.
"Pride month for me is about having pride in the fact that we are still here, that we have overcome obstacles that many people can't even begin to fathom and that we are refusing in the face of this hostility to back down," Smith said.
Smith said now is more important than every for communities to come together to support the LGBTQ+ community.
"We are having to defend a lot of that progress, but the good news is we have more allies, more resources, more people than we had back when we fought for these things to begin with," Smith said.
Smith attends Allendale United Methodist Church in St. Pete and she is good friends with Pastor Andy Oliver. Oliver said his church supports Pride.
"We will be marching in Pride…not only will my church have a spot, but Allendale has helped lead a coalition of over 30 churches that will be marching in Pride," Oliver said.
Nadine Smith hopes to continue her work and activism…and hopes support for the LGBTQ+ community continues.
"Nadine Smith is the most inspirational leader I know," Oliver said.
“This is just an insult.”
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