Miami Beach Pride organizers are calling on allies and the community to show up more than ever because of laws and proposed legislation that would roll back LGBTQ rights. NBC6’s Jamie Guirola reports
The big Miami Beach Pride Parade and Festival is just a few days away, and has happened every year for the past 17 years. And this year, organizers are calling on allies and the community to show up more than ever because of laws and proposed legislation that would roll back LGBTQ+ rights.
Organizers say Pride began as a protest for equal rights. While it grew into a celebration, they believe new laws threaten progress, and it’s time to return to its activist roots.
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WATCH HERE“Now we're getting a huge pushback, and we need to kind of focus more as a protest again,” said Miami Beach Pride Chairman Bruce Horwich.
MIAMI BEACH PRIDE
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For the 17th year in a row, the LGBTQ+ community will gather in numbers on Ocean Drive for the Miami Beach Pride parade. But this year, organizers say, as the first Pride event in the nation, Miami Beach has to set the example.
“So, we’re going to be encouraging people to come out to Pride and just by being there and showing up, they're serving the purpose of a protest,” Horwich said
The parade, with colorful floats, eclectic outfits, and diverse people, is now shifting to its roots of activism and protests as lawmakers propose and enact sweeping legislation rolling back equal rights.
“Well, you know, Florida has really been ground zero for anti-LGBTIQ+ legislation really for the last three years,” said Deputy Director of Equality Florida, Stratton Pollitzer. Equality Florida is the largest civil rights organization dedicated to securing full equality for the state’s LGBTQ+ community.
“You know, Pride in Florida is really the most important it's ever been, certainly in my three decades of doing this work,” Pollitzer said. “Because the message we are being told from Tallahassee and our government, sometimes even from the White House, is we don't think you should exist. And if you do exist, you better hide. And if you don't hide, you'll be punished.”
Some states are trying to reverse gay marriage. Others, like Florida, have banned books, tried to censor drag shows, and overturned protections for transgender people. Equality Florida says that just like the Pride parade, the fight back is in the numbers. The number of LGBTQ+ people and allies who show up to be seen and heard.
“So just to quantify that, at Equality Florida, we've added 165,000 new members in just the last 18 months, taking our membership to nearly 500,000 people," Pollitzer said. "We have seen over 20,000 people turn out to more than 700 direct actions in just the last two years, including people attending more than 500 school board meetings last year."
"So we want people to celebrate their diversity," Horwich said. "It still has the general purpose that I've always had close to my heart, which is for people to see each other that are like them, that are part of the LGBT community and feel good about themselves. But also at the same time, we need to get the message out that we need to use our voice.”
