Despite weather, state legal climate, West Palm Pride event goes on - Palm Beach Post

Despite weather, state legal climate, West Palm Pride event goes on

Heavy rain fails to dampen spirits of Pride advocates at West Palm gathering

This event comes right at the start of Pride month, which is a month dedicated to celebrating the LGBTQ+ community.
Stephany Matat

WEST PALM BEACH — Rain or shine, LGBTQ advocates were ready to host West Palm Beach’s annual Pride on the Block festival Saturday afternoon.

And for much of it, the day was all about rain. Lots of it, too.

But during these few hours of attendees running through tents with ponchos and umbrellas, or standing in the small cover underneath the entryway of surrounding restaurants, the event was still going on. By the later afternoon, when the rain cleared, more than 100 event-goers dressed in rainbow-themed outfits crowded Clematis Street and resumed their program.

“The LGBTQ community is a very resilient community,” said Donna Weinberger, founder of Transpire Help and organizer of the event. “Through decades we've had to get through many different situations, and so it’s just nice to be able to come together and celebrate and have fun and be able to be with peers.”

Saturday's event was the second in the annual Pride festival that began Friday evening. On hand Saturday were speakers including U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, D-West Palm Beach; Montana Rep. Zooey Zephyr, the first transgender person elected to her state's legislature; and Erin Reed, an independent transgender journalist.

This event also was a fundraiser for Transpire Help, a West Palm Beach-based nonprofit that provides health resources to the LGBTQ community.

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'We're not going anywhere': Event's speakers highlight Florida's anti-LGBTQ policies

The headline speakers focused on the central theme of celebrating the community and the longevity of this community within history, but the speeches also took aim at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the supermajority Republican Legislature and the state's new anti-LGBTQ policies, which advocates said are designed to "exterminate" this community.

"We're gonna say we know exactly what these bills are trying to do. They're trying to exterminate us, and we're not going to stand for it," Zephyr said to the crowd of about 100 people. "Trans people, queer people, intersex people exist. We have been here forever, and we're not going anywhere."

Zephyr, a Montana Democrat, was the first openly transgender person to be elected to her state's legislature. Since April 20, she has been prevented from speaking on the House floor in Helena after saying to colleagues that they would have "blood" on their hands for supporting a ban on gender-affirming care for youths. Since then, hundreds of protesters have advocated to allow Zephyr to speak on the House floor again.

She is currently barred from doing so unless she's reelected in 2024. Zephyr was the final speech of the event, following speeches from Reed, who is her fiancée, and Frankel, who made a surprise visit.

Frankel discussed key issues including book bans, abortion rights, voter suppression and health care. She emphasized for those attending to vote for lawmakers who support protecting abortion issues and LGBTQ rights, to ensure that the "rainbow of humanity is respected."

"I know some people want to flee. I know some people want to boycott. But for me, and I hope for you, I want to fight back," Frankel said.

A 'slate of hate': Florida's new anti-LGBTQ laws

The controversial LGBTQ laws, dubbed a “slate of hate” by critics, were signed by DeSantis as part of his administration’s mission to allow “kids to be kids." Those laws include:

- Clinical gender-affirming services provided to transgender teens, such as puberty blockers, are prohibited in Florida. This law also created restrictions for adults seeking hormone treatments.
- A law was signed to expand the “Parental Rights in Education” law signed last year banning classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation for kindergarten to third grade. The new law bans such instruction until eighth grade.
- Another portion of the expanded parental rights measure would restrict educators from asking students for their preferred pronouns, and from sharing their preferred pronouns with students if it does not correspond with their assigned sex at birth.
- Business owners who knowingly allow children at “adult live performances” would also be punished under Florida law. This law was aimed in part at book readings for children conducted by performers in drag.
- A person using certain bathrooms not aligned with their assigned sex at birth could be charged with misdemeanor trespassing. This applies to local government buildings, schools, colleges, correctional and detention facilities.

DeSantis, who announced his Republican presidential campaign last month, applauded these legislative initiatives, which LGBTQ critics said were meant to bolster his White House agenda. “There’s a lot of nonsense that gets floated around,” DeSantis said during a May 17 event at a private Christian school in Tampa. “What we’ve said in Florida is we are going to remain a refuge of sanity and a citadel of normalcy.”

Michael Riordan with Compass Community Center attended Saturday's event to talk about the organization’s services, which include HIV testing. Riordan said it’s more crucial than ever to “stand up” for LGBTQ rights in Florida following the divisive legislative session.

“There is nothing inherently evil, bad, shameful about LGBTQ people,” Riordan said. “It is more important than ever for us to be in our spaces, to be in safe spaces, to show everyone that we are human beings.”

Will Giffen of Delray Beach said LGBTQ people are under attack in Florida, and attending the event is showing people “what Pride is all about,” which is being visible despite having these attacks in the community. “What we're talking about is human rights,” Giffen said. “Laws that prevent any type of human rights and equality and equity is just not right.”

Colleen Brennan, who grew up in West Palm Beach and currently lives in Atlanta, said that the current climate for LGBTQ people is “scary.” She said having this event is showing that the community is still present.

“I think for a long time a lot of us have gone through fear of being part of the community and for us to be able to show kids, that we’re here, that they have support, that it's OK to be who they are, I think it's important that we represent that,” Brennan said.

In her speech Saturday evening, Reed told the crowd about the history of transgender people, and the activism and existence of this group for centuries. Because of this, Reed said, efforts to "eradicate" this community won't work.

Referencing the new Florida restrictions, Reed said she came from Maryland to attend the West Palm Beach event to point out that the LGBTQ community does "deserve to be able to use the bathroom, we deserve to be able to exist in public."

"You cannot eradicate us. That is because even if you did, even if you manage to get rid of every last one of us, if you listen to anything that I just said, we will be reborn again because we are part of what it means to be human," Reed said.

Stephany Matat is a politics reporter for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY-Florida network. Reach her at smatat@pbpost.com. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.