SARASOTA – As we remember the lives of those lost four years ago in the Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooting a new group in Sarasota is hoping to make celebrating Pride all year round.
Project PRIDE SRQ, co–founder Joshua Beadle says their mission is to bring the LGBTQ community and their allies across the Suncoast together.
“The idea really came about because there is a need to celebrate the LGBT community a lot more than what was actually happening in Sarasota,” said Beadle.
He says Project PRIDE SRQ has events planned out for 2020 to give residents on the Suncoast something to look forward to month after month. This week was supposed to be their kickoff to Pride Month, but the cornonavirus pandemic forced them to change their approach.
“We had to quickly pivot and figure out what to do.” says Beadle. “And so because everything was going online we were able to just start doing online events.”
The week-long festivities kicked off Thursday with a livestream concert featuring New York City–based performer Tarra Conner Jones.
Followed by an episode of #SupportSarasota LIVE featuring Pulse Nightclub owner Barbara Poma. She says June 12th is a reminder that we can all embrace our differences but that we’re more alike than we think.
“Instead of always thinking about how we are different from one another, and while we should celebrate what makes us unique individuals,” said Poma. “We should realize that as a human race we are way more alike than we are different. There are so many qualities that make us human and there are so few things that make us different from each other.”
Beadle says the festivities culminate with the first Sarasota Pride Car Parade on Saturday starting at 1 p.m. that will feature nearly 30 cars all decked out in their Pride décor making their way through downtown Sarasota.
He says due to COVID-19 and the CDC’s social distancing guidelines this is a non-spectator event and people are asked not to congregate in large groups to watch the parade.
You can watch the parade online on their Facebook page or on their website where you can also donate or find more information about the new non-profit.