St. Pete tolerates 35,000 for Pride Parade
35,000 people gathered in St. Pete for the annual Gay Pride Parade yesterday, and Ronda Storms (R – Homophoburbia) was a hot topic.
The most conspicuous presence at the St. Pete Pride street festival on Saturday was not drag queens wearing rhinestone tiaras and sequined gowns, or thousands waving rainbow flags and beads, but the smiling face of Hillsborough County Commissioner Ronda Storms.
She was not there, of course. But her photograph floated above the crowd on poster board signs, and her name repeatedly was invoked in both private conversations and public demonstrations.
......One performer, 27-year-old Eddie Innuendo, made Storms the focus of her entertainment act before a crowd of hundreds at the main stage on Central Avenue. She wore a white T-shirt with Storms' picture on it and danced around, pointing to Storms' face as music blared: "I want to take you to a gay bar."
The crowd went wild.
Innuendo then danced over to a piece of poster board that told of Storms' proposal and featured photographs of each commissioner who supported it.
Innuendo pulled out a can of red spray paint. The crowd cheered as she painted red X's over their faces.
When the lyrics said, "You're a superstar," Innuendo pointed to a different face on the poster board, Kathy Castor, the only commissioner who opposed the policy.
Innuendo turned the spray can on herself, painting over Storm's photograph on her shirt. Then she took a baseball bat and crushed the poster board.
"She's despicable!" someone shouted from the crowd, referring to Storms.
Love, equality and politics were in the humid air Saturday as thousands gathered on Central Avenue to show their support of gay pride and their disgust with the Hillsborough County Commission.
Organizers put the number of participants as high as 35,000.
Gay and straight, St. Pete Pride Street Festival-goers shook their heads over the county to the east, where a battle over gay recognition rages.
......Steven Davis, 42, and partner Daniel Tegan-Marsche, 32, both of St. Petersburg, said their friends in Hillsborough County are shocked.
``They're sorry they moved away from St. Pete,'' Davis said. ``They can't believe this is happening to them.''
......Joe Saunders, 22, an Equality Florida staff member from Orlando, handed out fliers titled ``Pride is Back in Hillsborough County,'' promoting a march assembling at 3 p.m. today near the John F. Germany Library in Tampa.
Tegan-Marsche said he was determined to not let Storms' actions spoil the fun.
``Ronda Storms can be taken in one or two ways,'' he said. ``She can be seen as an enemy or obstacle, or as a way for us to shine as a group of people, as a whole. She's not going to tell me who I can love, and where I can love them.''
Well, for now, anyway, in Hillsborough County, if you have one of these, it's okay to love someone here, and maybe here, but you should never, under any circumstances, no matter the situation ever love anyone here.
Pride Is Back Rally
3:00 TODAY
John F. Germany Library in Tampa
June 27th, 2005 - 10:11
Interesting headline. I blogged this morning on this as well (http://perspectiveofpete.blogspot.com/)
Here are the silver linings, although they’re hard to see through all the muck and b.s.
(1) People (gay and str8) are coming together over this, where some of the passivity is turning around
(2) It actually puts us in a position of power–we’re that much of a threat that people are afraid of us?–alright! Hey, even the mention of us is a PROMOTION and can apparently make MORE gay people like one of Storms’ constituents said. Maybe we have special mind powers, too, recruiting str8 people and turning them gay at whim. Thousands of years we’ve been around, born to heterosexual parents…yeah, recruitment makes sense.
(3) It brings out a discussion of other social ills, like racism and hatred toward other groups.
When I go before the Commission next month, I’m going to underscore the fact that making comparisons does NOT diminish individual history.
(4) There is finally a denouncement, at least at our local level, of the great trend-of-stupidity that is moving forward every day in this country.
August 8th, 2005 - 09:10
Thanks for the latest from St. Pete. The digusting initiative passed by the Hillsborough Council against gay pride events is disgusting.
I appreciate your great coverage of the story and ongoing/developing events.