Better late than never.
Just halfway through June, the St. Petersburg City Council proclaims it to be the city’s official LGBT month. It is the first time in St. Pete Pride’s history all eight Council Members signed the declaration.
The proclamation is just in time for the St. Pete Pride Carnivale, the biggest pride party of the year.
In eleven years, the Carnivale celebration and parade grew into Florida’s largest gay pride festival. Last year the event attracted over 80,000 attendees with 25 floats and 140 groups represented.
The 2013 Carnivale, just under two weeks away, is expected to surpass those numbers. This year it is being held for five days, from Wednesday, June 26 through Sunday, June 30.
As in the past 10 years, the series of celebrations will take place along St. Petersburg’s downtown and Grand Central Districts. Susan McGrath and “Mark & Carrie” are this year’s Grand Marshals, as is the organization Metro Wellness and Community Centers.
“The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community is inclusive of our sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, nieces and nephews who contribute to making St. Petersburg a beautiful place to live, work and play,” said Council Member Jeff Danner, reading the proclamation. Many of the festival’s events take place on Central Avenue, which borders on Danner’s District 8.
“We the Members of St Petersburg City Council do hereby proclaim the month of June, 2013 LGBT Pride Month in St Petersburg,” Danner continued, “ and urge all citizens to join in eliminating discrimination in all forms, and to celebrate the diversity of our community.”
The economic impact of the festival could be more than $10.7 million for the city and Pinellas County with $5.4 million in direct expenditures, according to a study by Research Data Services of Tampa.
The St. Petersburg announcement closely follows another Tampa Bay milestone for the LBGT community. On May 30, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn also became the first mayor in the Tampa Bay area to sign an LGBT Pride Month Proclamation.
For more information about St. Pete Pride and Carnivale, visit www.stpetepride.com or Pride’s Facebook page.
