Apparently, it wasn't just South Carolina who brought the love and the crowds with its pride celebration. Orlando Pride also showed out and it was in the face of an onslaught of anti-LGBTQ legislation.
From Gaycities:
The Sunshine State was beaming with pride over the weekend as the queer communities of Central Florida brightened the streets of Orlando. Aptly dubbed “Come Out with Pride Orlando,” over 200,000 members of the LGBTQ+ community showed up to the event’s festival and parade to celebrate COWPO’s values of “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging.”The debauchery kicked off on Saturday at Eola Park with the annual Come Out with Pride Festival, featuring a marketplace and food vendors, such as Cosmos Ice Cream and La Orengette, to grab a nosh. Embracing their principle of inclusion, the fest offered family-friendly options such as a Youth Zone and the Rainbow Ranch Kids Zone, as well a Sober Space sponsored by Pineapple Health.By the afternoon, RuPaul’s Drag Race alumni Monet Exchange and Lala Ri cranked up the heat on the Club Pride Stage. Performances also included local talent such as Darcel Stevens, The Les Vixens, House of Cavalli, House of San Miguel, The Renaissance Theater, and more. One of the missions of COWPO is to champion resistance, which was showcased by members of Orlando’s trans community, who hosted a rally to promote awareness and radically express their fierceness. The centerpiece of the day was the “Most Colorful Parade” presented by AHF, capped off by a grand fireworks finale.
And the centerpiece of the celebration was 11-year-old transgender girl Dempsey Jara, the youngest grand marshal in the history of Orlando's pride celebration.
According to The Orlando Sentinel:
“Being transgender is not about a choice,” Dempsey said while wearing a princess-style gown. “It’s about being true to myself. It’s about embracing who I am even when the world tries to tell me otherwise. It’s about standing tall in my identity even when it’s really hard.”Her mother Jaime Jara, 45, a schoolteacher, beamed beside her on stage. Off stage, she said her youngest child has always known who she was. “She’s just always gravitated toward girl things, girls’ toys. We didn’t have any of that stuff at home. She has two older brothers,” Jaime said. “She’d say, ‘I’m a girl in my heart and my brain.’ She’s been on this journey since she was 5 and she’s living her best life.”
The moral of all of this is that the LGBTQ community does not back down. You may come for us with your lies and hate but we know how to fight and win the hard way. We've been doing it since day one and we are in for the long haul.
