Pride 365: Central

Pride 365

Central Florida celebrates LGBTQ Pride year-round

JEREMY WILLIAMS

central Florida is in no short supply of LGBTQ Pride. From all the queer representation at Orlando's world famous theme parks to Pride parade and festivals in cities big and small, Central Florida's LGBTQ community is loud, proud and fi lled with rainbow love.

Central Florida's two largest LGBTQ events occur during two important months for the LGBTQ community — June, which is LGBTQ Pride Month and home to Central Florida's Red Shirt Pride Days, and October, which is LGBTQ History Month and home to Orlando's Come Out With Pride — but you will fi nd as you read further that Central Florida shows its LGBTQ Pride all year long. with so many advocates and allies proudly showing their support, this list is far from complete. Be sure to read Watermark’s Tampa Bay and Sarasota Living with Pride guides to see how even more of Central Florida’s cities share their LGBTQ Pride – and watch future issues of Watermark and visit WatermarkOnline.com for the latest details about each outing.

COME OUT WITH PRIDE

Orlando, Florida | ComeOutWithPride.org Come Out With Pride (COWP) is an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization inspired to make an impact in Orlando’s LGBTQ community. Celebrated in October to align with National Coming Out Day on October 11 and National Gay and Lesbian History Month, COWP got its start in 2005 when it incorporated under Central Florida's LGBTQ chamber of commerce, The Pride Chamber (known at that time as the Metropolitan Business Association, or MBA). Since that first year, COWP has grown into one of the largest Pride celebrations in the state with a parade and festival that takes over downtown Orlando and Lake Eola Park. The importance of COWP was magnified after the Pulse tragedy on June 12, 2016 when gun violence took the lives of 49 members of our community. That October, COWP put on a parade and festival that showed Orlando's LGBTQ community that they are loved, honored the 49 angels lost at Pulse and showed the world that Orlando would keep dancing . In 2018, COWP realized that Orlando's Pride couldn't be contained to just one Saturday and expanded to a week full of Pride events that included the Drag Race 5K, a Church Street block party and more. The following year, COWP took the celebration to the next level and announced that Orlando would be bidding to host WorldPride in 2026 on the 10-year mark of the Pulse tragedy. While COVID-19 forced many Pride organizations to cancel for the year, COWP wanted to do something that would be safe and celebrate Orlando's Pride. In October 2020, Orlando's LGBTQ community were given "Pride in the Streets/Pride in the House," a vehicle procession throughout the streets of Orlando and a virtual showcase of Pride streaming online, respectively. While both events were big hits, nothing can replace the in-person Pride Festival and Most Colorful Parade that wants you to #KeepDancingOrlando. COWP returns with its parade and festival Oct. 9.

RED SHIRT PRIDE DAYS

Orlando, Florida | KindREDPride.org Outside of Pride parades and festivals, one could argue that no other LGBTQ event in the world is as recognizable as the one that occurs on the first Saturday in June every year at the happiest place on Earth. Gay Day at Disney’s Magic Kingdom has gone through many changes since that first Gay Day on June 1, 1991 but the original premise remains the

SHOW YOUR PRIDE:

Fans line the streets in Downtown Orlando in October for Come Out With Pride's Most Colorful Parade.

PHOTO BY DYLAN TODD

same — the LGBTQ community, wearing red shirts, gather in front of Cinderella's Castle at the Magic Kingdom just before the 3 p.m. parade to be visible and to be seen. Organizers of the first event would have claimed it a success if a hundred people showed up, so they were not prepared when 1,500 people in red shirts gathered in front of the castle. What began as one day at the park ballooned into multiple days of events from many groups including GayDays, One Magical Weekend, Girls in Wonderland and Tidal Wave Party, who bring circuit parties, concerts, expos and pool parties that attract hundreds of thousands of visitors every year that encircle the original event and carry the same message of visibility that Gay Day at Magic Kingdom was founded on. In 2019, the nonprofit KindRED Pride Foundation established Red Shirt Pride Days, a series of events occurring on the first weekend of June every year with a mission to get one million people around the world to wear red on the first Saturday of June whether they are at the Magic Kingdom or not. As Central Florida approached the 30th anniversary of the first Gay Day at Disney's Magic Kingdom, the world shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic and all organizations — Walt Disney World included — closed up shop in 2020. But the 30th anniversary celebration is still being planned and will come to Central Florida June 4, 2022.

VOLUSIA PRIDE

New Smyrna Beach, Florida | VolusiaPride.com Originally the brainchild of college students Lisa-Marie Mueller and Kristen Colesanti, Volusia Pride was brought to life in just eight weeks by Pastor Sarah Lund of United Church of Christ in New Smyrna Beach and Kathy Seibert, president of PFLAG New Smyrna Beach/Volusia, in 2012 when a lack of funds made in appear the event would not be able to happen. The first pride festival took place Nov. 10, 2012 on the grounds of the United Church of Christ and was a huge success. The following year, Volusia Pride moved to New Smyrna Beach's Riverside Park and has called Old Fort Park its home for the last several years. Volusia Pride is still produced each year by the Volusia County chapter of PFLAG with a mission to create an entertaining and educational environment for Volusia's LGBTQ community and its straight allies. Volusia Pride's eighth annual festival, which was intended to be Oct. 19, 2020, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic but is expected to make its triumphant return in October 2021.

SPACE COAST PRIDE

Melbourne, Florida | SpaceCoastPride.org Space Coast Pride is an all volunteer-managed, not-forprofit LGBTQ organization intent on fostering a sense of community and pride within Brevard County's LGBTQ residents. Space Coast Pride got its start in 2007 as a small picnic in Melbourne and has grown into one of the biggest Pride events in Central Florida, attracting more than 12,000 attendees each fall. The one-day event, which is held at the end of September, was expanded to three days in 2015 and then to a full week of events in 2018. In that time, Space Coast Pride's list of events have included everything from kick-off parties, drag shows and brunches to 5K runs, beach days and, for starting in 2015, a Pride parade through Melbourne's historic Eau Gallie Arts district. This year's Space Coast Pride festival and parade will be on Sept. 25.

SANFORD PRIDE

Sanford, Florida | Facebook.com/ SanfordPride.FL Sanford Pride first celebrated the LGBTQ community with its Gay Pride Festival on Nov. 13, 2016. The event started with a Legs & Eggs Pride Brunch at the Rabbitfoot Record Store Cafe and featured a parade/sashay, a vendor festival, drag performances and an after party hosted by Celery City Craft Beer Garden. Sanford Pride grew from there to become one of the most attended and talked about LGBTQ events in Seminole County. Each November, Sanford Pride promotes the diversity of its city, celebrates the uniqueness of its community and shows that Seminole County is an open and accepting place. Sanford Pride is expected to return to downtown Sanford in November 2021.

OCALA PRIDE

Ocala, Florida | OcalaPride.org Ocala Pride got its start in June 2005 as a small, informal picnic in Ocala's Jervey Gantt Park. The following year's picnic was overseen by community members who became known as the Core Group which would become Ocala Pride in 2007. Ocala Pride's first official PrideFest at Citizen's Circle occurred Oct. 18, 2014 and PrideFest has been happening every October since. In 2019, PrideFest moved to Tuscawilla Park with the following year's events being cancelled due to the pandemic. Ocala Pride is a nonprofit, community-based organization that enhances and sustains the cultural awareness and acceptance of the LGBTQ and HIV communities of Marion County. Ocala Pride's PrideFest returns to Tuscawilla Park Oct. 23. DELAND PRIDE

DeLand, Florida | DeLandPride.org DeLand Pride was born out of tragedy when resident Dagny Robertson watched the horror of the Pulse shooting unfold in Orlando in 2016. Robertson, who's youngest son came out as gay as a teenager, lost several friends in the massacre. When Robertson saw how the world responded with love and support for the LGBTQ community, she knew she had to bring that to DeLand's LGBTQ community. DeLand Pride was also the first Pride organization in Central Florida to host an in-person event since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic with its socially distanced "Love is Love Pride Fest" Feb. 20 at Artison Alley and Cafe Davinci. DeLand Pride returns in Feb. 2022.

LAKE COUNTY PRIDE

Mount Dora, Florida | LakeCountyPride2020.org Lake County Pride was founded with the tagline "A CELEBRATION of PRIDE with a PURPOSE" last year by activist Danielle M. Olivani. Olivani worked with members of The Triangle Connection, a nonprofit social and service organization for LGBTQ individuals who live, love, work or play in Lake County's Golden Triangle community of Mount Dora, Eustis and Tavares, to bring Lake County Pride's first event — a virtual celebration during the COVID-19 pandemic — to the area, with proceeds raised going to Equality Florida's transgender inclusion initiative, known as TransAction Florida.