As downed trees scattered the streets and power outages plagued the city, Gainesville pride remained unscathed in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
Despite week-long uncertainty, the Pride Community Center of North Central Florida hosted its Pride Festival on Sept. 28 from noon to 8 p.m. at Bo Diddley Plaza and on surrounding streets.
From National Women’s Liberation to Wawa, over 100 businesses and organizations set up tables along the streets. The colorful scene offered a vast selection of activities, resources, advocacy and entertainment, though it also attracted counterprotesters.
PCNCF board director Elena Kalina said her team met throughout the week to monitor and discuss whether the show would go on and got the go ahead from the city on Friday. Despite losing some vendors and volunteers, Kalina and her team showed up at 7:30 a.m. Saturday for setup, she said.
“The community has really pulled through to make this happen today, which I think is a really beautiful turnout and change of events considering the hurricane,” she said.
While pride month is typically observed in June, Kalina said Gainesville usually hosts its pride festival around October because most students are gone over the summer, and it’s far too hot for drag queens to perform in the summer heat.
With the help of intermittent rain and fans made out of popsicle sticks, the festival beat the heat and crowds filled the lawn to watch drag performances. Children frolicked in rainbow face paint and made bracelets or built legos at the kid station.
Mom and Hop’s anime shop proved to be a popular booth, offering an array of artwork, like a 3D-printed resin figurine. Hop Murray, the 18-year-old Mom and Hop’s co-owner, said he and his mother were able to make sales before officially opening.
“[It’s] a good vibe when people want stuff before you’re open,” Murray said. “To see someone light up with excitement for something that they never see anywhere else … whenever someone’s like, ‘I need that,’ that makes my day.”
The pair vended at the pride festival last year and traveled from Orlando after vending at several other conventions and hearing about it from word of mouth. They finished the day with $400 in profit.
“I always like places like this because it always feels authentic,” Murray said.
Aside from jamming out to live music, shopping for crystals or grabbing a bite from food trucks, attendees had the opportunity to learn about civic involvement.
Tabling organizations included Planned Parenthood, Bread and Roses, Alachua County Crisis Center and Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense in America. Gainesville Community Counseling Center provided a spinning wheel for prizes like pride stickers and lanyards. The Civic Media Center offered a library activist hub and a magazine-making station.
Behind the booth where people could register to vote, a different crowd started to form. Protestors hoisted a sign that read “repent or perish” and “you’re going to hell without Christ,” accompanied by a graphic photo of a burning face. Donning shirts that read “Jesus saves from hell,” they chanted biblical verses into a speakerphone.
Isabella Rose stood in front of them in a neon green wig and high heels. The 20-year-old transgender woman waved her pride flag in the air as she interacted with the male protestors and tossed dollar bills at them as she danced.
“If I see hate, I will fight with kindness and love, and I will wave this flag,” Rose said. “Pride is everything. Pride is the being, it’s who you are, and no one can take that from you.”
It wasn’t long before the protestors attracted a crowd, which led to a police car’s arrival at the corner of University Avenue and South East First Street.
“You are all loved, you’re worthy and those are lies,” Rose told festival attendees. “I’m here to remind everyone that God loves everybody.”
On the parallel street, several churches tabled at the festival, including the United Church of Christ, which identifies as an “Open and Affirming Church.” Its flier said the church “declares their welcome and inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons into the full life of the church.”
Brandon Telg, a 35-year-old who has been a church member for over 10 years, tabled with his daughter at the festival. Telg wanted to find a place where everyone in his community felt accepted and his children could be themselves, he said.
“I think that as my kids have gotten older, that’s exactly what UCG has meant to them,” he said. “To be here, to be a part of a church at a pride festival, is not what I was used to growing up, but is such a beautiful thing that I’m so glad to be a part of.”
Contact Noor Sukkar at nsukkar@alligator.org. Follow her on X @noorsukkarr.
Noor Sukkar is a third-year journalism major with a minor in Arabic. She is the Avenue's Fall 2024 General Assignment reporter. When she's not writing, she's most likely talking to her cat or overwatering her plants.
