ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — On a warm but pleasant Saturday, thousands lined Bayshore Drive in St. Petersburg for Florida’s biggest Pride parade.
It’s the twenty-first year of the celebration but for many of the people who showed up Saturday, this year’s rendition is the most important yet.
Lynley Hilligoss and Shauntee Gonzalez, who have been together for three years, drove up from Port Charlotte for the celebration. Though they feel an overwhelming sense of acceptance during the festivities in St. Pete, they say they don’t feel the same acceptance everywhere.
“I’ve had issues at work, actually,” said Gonzalez.
They point to the current political climate and a spate of new state laws that they feel have put a target on the LGBTQ+ community.
“We’re human just like everybody else. We live normal lives just like everybody else. Just because we may be different doesn’t mean that you have to come down on our community the way that you are,” said Hillgoss.
Hayden Bosworth has similar thoughts. For Bosworth, even though the parade was a reason to celebrate, it was also an opportunity to make a stand and a plea for acceptance as a member of the trans community.
“I’m the same as you are. I bleed red, I cry, I laugh, and I want to be here on this Earth just as bad as anyone else, and I should be able to be accepted just like anybody else,” Bosworth said.
The St. Pete Pride celebration continues Sunday with the ‘Pride In Grand Central’ Street Fair from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Grand Central District of St. Pete.
