St. Pete Pride parade has grown from a small event into a celebration noticed by the entire city.
One of the largest gatherings for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community in Florida, the event has more than doubled in attendance since its beginning in 2003.
Back then, the small parade brought a crowd of 13,000 onlookers and participants. This year, St. Petersburg Police estimated that 40,000 people were on hand to watch or be part of the procession down the Grand Central business district.
Drag queens leaned from floats tossing free condoms and Mardi Gras beads like candy. Lesbian couples pushed their children in strollers. Volunteers passed out orange juice boxes to marchers in the parade. A mobile van offered free HIV tests.
Pride is a mostly celebratory event, except for the presence of a handful of protestors. Police watched from the sidelines. They fenced off detractors with orange construction cones, to prevent a confrontation. Synthesized techno music blared from nearby speakers as evangelists preached through megaphones about sodomy and sin.
In response, parade participants defiantly hugged and kissed in sight of the protest zone.
Others took pictures to poke fun of the message. One marcher sounded an air horn to drown out a preacher with a megaphone. The crowd erupted in cheers.
It was also a day to console and support victims of hate crimes.
One young woman drove her graffiti-painted "fag bug" through the parade amid cheers.
There was also a memorial to Ryan Skipper, a Polk County man stabbed 20 times during a robbery and dumped along side the road where he died.
To some revelers the St. Pete Pride is a colorful display of drag queens and leather-clad motorcycle riders. To some it's just an excuse to party. To some it's a day to spend with family and loved ones. But everyone at the pride parade has a reason to be there.
Here are the stories of five people we encountered along sidewalks last week:
1: What it means to be gay and blackName: Herbe Murray Age: 47Hometown: Tampa, Fla.Herbe Murray calls himself black, not African-American; homosexual, not gay.
"I identify with being homosexual instead of gay because it's a way of life. Gay is a political statement that people use as activism," he said.
Murray is one of few black vendors at the pride event. He represents Tampa Black Pride, a three-day event that focuses on the issues facing blacks in the gay community.
Murray said it's tough for black men and women to be acknowledged by the greater gay community and the conversation should go farther.
"We should sit down and honestly talk about where we go from here," Murray said. "Blacks are still angry about so many issues, that being homosexual is one more thing they don't want to deal with."
2: Lesbian couple in a closeted community Name: Evelyn ThomasAge: 64Hometown: St. Petersburg, Fla.Evelyn Thomas lives with her partner Carol Stone, 67, in Pinellas Park, Fla., a condominium community with older residents.
Thomas and her partner of 12 years are originally from New York. When she first moved to the South, it felt a bit hostile.
"Most of my friends are still in the closet. They don't want to make any waves," Thomas said. "We have neighbors who are in their 80s and have been together for 50 years and they are still in the closet."
It's been 30 years since Thomas came out. The former housewife with four children broke the news to her husband and consequently lost custody of her children. Thomas said she was forced to make the toughest decision in her life: to be honest about who she was, or maintain the lie and retain custody of her children.
"My biggest regret was not being able to keep custody of my kids. In those days being gay was enough reason to lose your children," she said.
But her husband was accepting and eventually let her back into the lives of her children.
Although Thomas is content with her public image, her partner still struggles with displaying affection in their neighborhood.
"I love to dance," she said. "But my partner is uncomfortable in public."
3: How one woman changed a slur into a triumphName: Erin DaviesAge: 29Hometown: Albany, New YorkEarlier this year, vandals tagged Erin Davies' silver Volkswagen Beetle with the words, "U R Gay" and the word "Fag." The Albany, N.Y., college student had to drive around in the car for several days while her insurance company processed her claim.
At first it was humiliating. But as strangers asked her what happened and she explained, she found an opportunity to turn the attack into a conversation. Instead of covering it up she decided to make a display of it.
"The typical response would be to cover it up and pretend it never happened. But I'm not going to internalize it," Davies said.
Now, she and her car are traveling across the country spreading the word about hate crimes.
Today, Davies sells "fag bug" bumper stickers for $5 and T-shirts for $15 to help fund her trip. Within minute of opening her booth, a crowd flocks to her. Some offer her hugs; others slip money into her donation jar.
Davies' says on her Web site that she hopes to convince 1 million to put the bumper stickers on their car. That would go a long way in taking the sting out the hateful word.
"The word is offensive and hurtful, but I wanted other people to experience the same thing," Davies said. "We call it the 'conversation bug.' "
4: "I'm gay and I'm proud"Name: Jim BennettAge: 52Hometown: New Port Richey, Fla.Jim Bennett is all smiles in his rainbow feather boa and a blue-sequined blouse.
"It took me an half-hour to make this outfit," Bennett said as he proudly shook his head full of colorful Mardi Gras beads.
This is his first year at St. Pete Pride.
Bennett, who was married to a woman for 26 years, said he always knew he had "gay tendencies." For years, he struggled with revealing his sexual orientation to his family because he feared he would lose so much.
On this day, surrounded by other gay people, he is proud.
"When you come out, you are more at peace with yourself, then pretending to be straight," Bennett said.
5: Evangelist with a lesbian sisterName: Evan Johnston Age: 44Hometown: Tampa, Fla.Evan Johnston distances himself from a man in a red T-shirt yelling "SODOMY is a SIN," through a megaphone.
"You know what? I don't even agree with what they are saying," he said in calm voice. "I don't like confrontation."
The 44-year-old evangelist from Tampa Bay Word of Faith church carries a large sign on a foot-long stick with a verse from the Bible. It reads, "Jesus said: 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. John 11:25-26.' "
The reason why Johnston preaches is simple: "I want to get the attention of people. Once you rile them up, then you give them the mercy and love of God."
Johnston looks intensely into the eyes of his onlookers, so they can feel what he is preaching. He speaks in biblical metaphors, often comparing his work cleansing sinners to the work of Jesus. But he chastises his fellow Christians who push away gays instead of embracing them.
Johnston is dealing with his own moral dilemma: Can a person be gay and Christian?
"I have a sister who is gay," he stumbles.
"I can't bless what God can't bless. He created sex in the context of a man and a woman," Johnston said. "But I still love my sister."
