July 06, 2023 / By mobanmarket
TAMPA BAY, FL — Though Tampa Pride has already canceled its September Pride on the River event following a slate of anti-LGBTQ+ bills signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis this week — including a law targeting minors attending drag shows — not all Pride event organizers in the Tampa Bay area are backing down.
Pride at the Village, hosted Saturday by the Pinellas Arts Village, the Studios at 5663 and other Pinellas Park arts organizations and businesses, is the first event forced to pivot quickly after HB 1438 became law Wednesday.
The law, known as the “Protecting Children’s Innocence” law, bans children from attending “sexually explicit adult performances in all venues — including drag shows and strip clubs,” according to a news release from the governor’s office.
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“I don’t know that we were preparing for it to come as fast as it did, and, of course, we were hoping for it not to be a law at all,” artist John Gascot, who is organizing Pride at the Village, told Patch. “It’s dehumanizing toward many communities — LGBTQ, drag, trans and even heterosexual parents whose rights are being taken away from them to determine what is appropriate entertainment for their kids.”
Pride at the Village, which takes place 2 to 8 p.m., will still feature drag performers, including headliner Ginger Minj, who starred on “RuPaul’s Drag Race” season seven, as well as the movie “Hocus Pocus 2.”
Storytime hosted by the Barbara S. Ponce Library — not a drag queen storytime event, Gascot stressed — kicks off the Pride arts festival at 2 p.m.
After that, once the drag pageant, which takes place from 4 to 6 p.m., and the drag show, which runs from 6 to 8 p.m., start, the performance tent will switch over to 18+ only, though none of the performances planned “are lewd or ever were,” Gascot said.
Still organizers want to be cautious with the new laws.
“You can deem something lewd just because you don’t like it and also, how do you define drag? We know what the typical idea of a drag queen is, but what about people like myself who like to dress with a kind of flare and makeup?” he said. “Can you point a finger and single me out?”
St. Pete Pride, the largest Pride event in Florida and the Southeastern United States, has already taken to social media, ahead of its slate of June events, to say, “You can’t stop Pride.”
The organization wrote in a Facebook post, “We appreciate all the inquiries into this season’s events. St Pete Pride, with the support of the city of St. Petersburg and our community partners, will be happening as planned. 10 events across the month of June, including our annual parade scheduled for June 24. Drag community welcome with open arms. Any and all official announcements and updates regarding St Pete Pride events will come from a St Pete Pride official channel.”
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The St. Pete Pride Parade and Festival will go on as planned, Erica Riggins, the city’s public information officer, told Patch.
Riggins said she’d have more information about the events next week.
Last year’s St. Pete Pride events, held the last weekend in June, saw additional, heavy police presence, including assistance from the FBI, Patch reported.
Patch has reached out to St. Petersburg police about security plans for the 2023 events. This story will be updated when they respond.
Lakeland-area performer, Momma Ashley Rose, who takes the stage throughout Florida for family-friendly events, told Patch she doesn’t foresee any changes to her schedule – which includes drag performances on the fifth Sunday of every month during worship services at Allendale United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg.
“As of right now we are moving forward as normal. The law does not state anything about drag and states adult entertainment. And our events are family friendly. We will continue to monitor our entertainment and events like we have before making sure everything is safe for all ages,” Rose said.
She added, “After talking to Equality Florida, (an LGBTQ advocacy group,) we know we are within the law. We know it won’t stop hate and ignorance, of course, but we will continue to help others as we do now.”
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