Initiative to Bridge LGBTQ+ & African American Communities

Google defines Allyship as a lifelong process of building relationships based on trust, consistency, and accountability with marginalized individuals and/or groups of people, not self-defined—work and efforts must be recognized by those you are seeking to ally with.

"I really want us to focus on this word and what it means to be a true ally. It means letting the marginalized individuals lead and following their lead. It's actively listening to what they need and how we can support, instead of trying to lead for them it telling them what would be best for them," said Claire Eli, founder of Project No Labels. "To me, it means amplifying their voices and platform so they can be better heard. That's a true definition of Allyship, and to me, this event is to be in support of our black trans siblings and to reaffirm their validity in our world."

On Saturday, June 27, from 8-9 pm, on the date that before the pandemic was scheduled for the annual St. Pete Pride parade, an initiative is planned to help bridge the LGBTQ+ and African American communities.

"Members of the LGBTQ+ community wanted to show solidarity with Black Lives Matter. Too many Black trans people have been murdered, especially in the past year. Since the St Pete Pride Parade was canceled due to COVID-19, we thought a safely organized vigil would be helpful and appropriate," said Brian Longstreth, event coordinator, Come OUT St Pete, Inc. "Come OUT St Pete has partnered with Project No Labels and the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum to show unity in honoring the victims and work together in the future to prevent such tragedies. In addition to the vigil, there will be opportunities to partner on future events in the City of St Petersburg to further that work."

The organizations participating are asking all like-minded organizations to assist in solidarity by the safe, masked, and social distanced unfurling of a 375-foot rainbow flag provided by Come OUT St Pete.

An approximate nine-minute kneeling and moment of silence for George Floyd of Minneapolis, Tony McDade of Tallahassee, Rayshard Brooks of Atlanta, Dominique "Rem' mie" Fells of Philadelphia, and Riah Milton of Liberty Township, will be followed by a candlelight vigil.

Additional t-shirts and masks may be sold to benefit the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum. The museum has held outreach programs in the past for Black Pride, and exhibits of LGBT musicians, and we hope to further our partnership with them to expand their outreach.

HSN is sponsoring the event, and St. Petersburg Distillery is providing hand sanitizer for all volunteers and check-in stations. Two groups of approximately 50 Volunteers will be given a commemorative t-shirt and mask to assist with the unfurling.

For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/1150879565266035. Volunteers are requested to register online at https://comeoutstpete.org/volunteer.