Tampa Prepares To Show Its Pride With Return Of Diversity Parade

TAMPA, FL — It'll be raining men and more in Ybor City Saturday as Tampa Pride returns to Ybor City with a parade, street festival and concert featuring The Weather Girl's Martha Wash singing the abiding disco classic, "It's Raining Men."

With the blessing of Tampa's first gay mayor, Jane Castor, Tampa Pride President Carrie West said the city will resume its annual celebration of National Pride Month following a hiatus in 2020 for the coronavirus pandemic.

The daylong Tampa Pride Street Festival will include an arts and crafts show, community health fair, food alley, vendors fair and entertainment stage.

The Tampa Bay Pride Band will kick off the celebration at 10:45 a.m. on the main stage in the Cuban Club Courtyard followed by speakers and more entertainment.

The vendor areas will be located on East 9th Avenue and the parking lot of Hillsborough Community College's Ybor City campus at North 13th and North 15th streets.

New this year is the food alley. Food trucks and food carts will be stationed along 14th Street between 9th Avenue and Palm Avenue from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

As the festival ends at 4 p.m., thousands of people will line 7th Avenue for the return of the Tampa Pride Diversity Parade, Tampa's first street parade since the pandemic was declared and the first Pride parade in the country this year, according to West.

The parade, featuring bands, marching units, floats, the LGBT Truckers and the Rainbow Rider semi truck and the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile, will begin in front of Centro Ybor with a special community tribute and then head down East 7th Avenue to North 20th Street.

Leading the sixth Tampa Pride Diversity Parade will be Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office Lt. Lee Garfield and Lt. Michele Polk along with more than 50 members of the sheriff's office and their families including Sheriff Chad Chronister.

Chronister, who has been participating in the parade since 2018, announced Thursday that he has tapped Garfield and Polk to serve as head of the sheriff's office's newly formed LGBTQ Liaison Program.

"Here at HCSO, we want to model the community that we serve and show citizens we are like them in every way. We want to foster an environment of acceptance, both internally and externally," Chronister said, adding that Garfield and Polk have been tasked to make sure there is an open and active conversation about LGBTQ issues with schools, church groups and community organizations.

"The hope is to educate all citizens and provide resources to at-risk youth, many of whom identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer," he said in a statement.

Garfield and Polk will also provide information on how and where to report hate crimes, serve as the point of contact between sheriff's office and the LGBTQ community, coordinate and provide a forum for local law enforcement agencies, schools, businesses and community groups regarding relevant law enforcement issues and will serve as a resource to families who have questions or need guidance.

"We are lucky to live in a community like Hillsborough County that has so much diversity," said Chronister, noting that the sheriff's office updated its anti-discrimination policy in 2019 to include both transgender and sexual orientaton. "There are so many opportunities to learn and grow from one another. This new liaison program will be a two-way street between the LGBTQ community and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. All of us here at HCSO look forward to building an even stronger bond with our community members."

A video released in conjunction with Chronister's announcement about the LGBTQ Liaison Program features Sgt. Wes Kostelnik who is the first openly transgender person at the sheriff's office.

Following the parade, the celebration will continue at The Cuban Club, 2010 14th Ave., with the Pride at Night Concert featuring headliner Martha Wash along with singers Pepper Mashay and Jay Miah and disc jockeys Greg Anderson and Power Infiniti. VIP tickets for the concert are $75. The cost for those 18 to 20 is $5 and anyone ages 21 and up is admitted for free.

See the Tampa Pride Guide for a full lineup of 2021 events.

See related stories:

• LGBT Truckers Ride With Pride, Raising Awareness Around Country
• Despite Festival Cancellation, County Commemorates Pride Month
• LBGT Chamber, Downtown Partnership Create Pride Mural