Mayor Pete And LGBTQ Allies Encourage Community To Vote

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — The LGBTQ community, its allies, and former Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg shared the message of why it's important to get out and vote at "Pride at the Polls" in downtown St. Petersburg on Wednesday evening.

"Pride at the Polls," hosted by Buttigieg, was held to increase support for Democrat Joe Biden on the presidential ticket.

Rainbow flags with Biden/Harris 2020 were waved by some of the attendees in Williams Park and a blue "Florida for Biden/Harris" banner was visible behind the speakers who encouraged voters to choose integrity at the polls.

City council member Darden Rice, who was the first openly gay person to run for Pinellas County office in 2005, reminded everyone how far the county has since come in accepting and supporting the LGBTQ community. Darden said she wants the city and state of Florida to continue to move forward rather than backward.

This comes at a time when conservative judge Amy Coney Barrett was just sworn in as a U.S. Supreme Court justice, and her ideologies are considered a threat to LGBTQ rights, reported the Human Rights Campaign.

"I'm voting for Biden to protect my family, I'm voting for the Biden administration to protect all of our families," Darden said to a crowd of faces with masks who cheered in response.

Mayor Rick Kriseman, Democratic Congressman Charlie Crist and Commissioner Janet Long were among the political allies standing in support of the LGBTQ community.

"This is the time for peer pressure," Kriseman said. "Don't let that family member or that friend of yours sit this one out, it is too important. More than six million Floridians have already cast their ballot."

Buttigieg, otherwise known as Mayor Pete, is an Afghan War veteran and first openly gay candidate for a major party nomination. Buttigieg previously served as mayor in South Bend, Indiana.

He told the crowd to not only get out and vote, but to have discussions with their loved ones and friends about how the Nov. 3 election could affect LGBTQ lives.

"This isn't just about what we're against, but what we're for," Buttigieg said. "We're for a climate where our next generation can actually thrive. And we're for handling questions of science and medicine by paying attention to what doctors and scientists have to tell us instead of denying them when they say something that is politically inconvenient. That's what we're for."

As Buttigieg spoke, he experienced a couple of hecklers, but he remained on topic.

The Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives passed the Equality Act in 2019, but the legislation stalled in the Republican-controlled Senate, reported Reuters. Biden would need the Democrats to retain its majority in the House and take control of the Senate to ensure passage.

The Equality Act would protect U.S. citizens from discrimination based on sexual identity and gender identity by amending the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned discrimination based on race, religion, sex and national origin.

"I personally think this is the most consequential election of our life. We have two very, very different candidates, and if you don't like the direction the country's going in, you gotta get out and vote," Kriseman told Patch.