LGBTQIA History Hits Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay FL- LGBTQI History Month Has impacted Tampa Bay and the community is taking the awareness by storm as celebrations, honorable announcements, and people spread the word of love throughout the area and across the neighborhoods themselves.
Many people confuse LGBTQI History Month of October with LGBTQIA Pride Month in June as one month celebrated diversity, progress, and adversity while October the community reflects and traces down the progress throughout the years of achievements people in the LGBTQIA have overcome.
Florida has a long history with LGBTQIA laws such as the fact that homosexuality was not even considered a sexual orientation until it was taken off the mentally ill list in 1973. People were not accepting or socially embraced the sexuality that they are today. People were discriminated against, attacked, and thrown out in the streets most of the 80s and 90s. HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) epidemic hit the bay area hard, and people were forced to be segregated into separate Aids wards halls and places, so relatives had the time to say goodbyes. people in the community were barred from donating blood and adopting children because it was deemed immoral for kids to be exposed to LGBT culture.
Florida is one of the toughest states for LGBTQI Residents because people have fought for equal rights since The Stonewall riots of 1969 and the first pride parades of 1970. Florida has banned marriage, spousal support, parental rights, very recently did not protect LGBT from job discriminations, etc. People had to march the streets to progress slowly but surely across the state country until the 2015 landmark with Obergefell v. Hodges, and pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando changed the way the state operates for the community.
Jonathan Pruitt, a local teacher, Tampa Bay resident has lived in the area since 2004. Pruitt is a Tampa Bay advocate for the community and gives a breakdown on the current state of the issues LGBTIA faces today:
“There will always be issues to address, but soon we will be slaying mutant iguanas instead of dragons, and then one day only leopard geckos. The question of whether we’ll keep calling them dragons is interesting. But I think the zeal at an iguana-sanctuary rally will be less.
Dragons: fearsome faces of adversity, inequality, and prejudice that severely diminish our quality of life and safety. These impact our basal requirements, like safety and health, and basic rights. Iguanas: unpleasant faces of bias and worthy of addressing but pose less of a threat. Often rhetoric requires painting iguanas in terms of slippery slope arguments to rally support. But, as we venture into iguana slaying, the average body size of our takes will shrink in time. Depends. The iguana vs dragon distinction depends on where one draws the line in a continuous distribution. Iguanas we need to cull are microaggressions and small-scale differences in pay inequality.”
Pruitt breaks down those certain threats like religion, job employers, and other people in power are slowly starting to decline compared to in the past he worried about losing his job. Tampa Bay protects people’s jobs from discrimination which is a luxury that only 60% of the state has protection. LGBTQI Protections in Fl is especially important to Pruitt as he explains “ But In the places where LGBTQIA people congregate in masses is shrinking, by the very same underlying process. I hope, when we reach equilibrium, we will still have gay clubs, bookstores, neighborhoods, and the like. But that is just my wistful, nostalgic sentimentality at work.” law tells him if he loses his job he can sue, and the supervisors must do a sensitivity job class to fix the issues. The federal government protects LGBTQI from hostile work environments and discloses if people are out or not. Employers can be fined or jailed for discrimination as well if caught. “Scalar responses by institutions to the degree of misbehavior in transparent processes. And a system for addressing fat. Job loses claims as well. And a bit more than equity, but with some safeguards for outright inclusion as well. Though I am thankful I am not the one forced to draw those lines in practice.” says Pruitt.
Tampa Bay has come a long way from the past and has included LGBTQI in housing and work. Schools are starting to show acceptance and honor same-sex relationships and acknowledge how far it has come along in the job world. Safety measures are a priority and Florida has become a sanctuary for LGBTQI seeking asylum.
Pruitt explains “ I draw the line at safety and macro professional opportunities. Transparency and accountability in professional contexts, especially in institutions funded by the tax payer. Fewer back room deals and knowing someone who knows someone In Tampa, the spaces one can be gay and overt without someone blanching is growing. Since 2004, when I first moved here, it’s almost unrecognizable.” Tampa Bay has one of the fastest job growths in the country and is recognized as a place where people are welcome at any time.
has done a lot for the community as Gay adoptions became legal as well as marriage. Businesses have donated millions to supporting organizations to make the LGBTQI Community feel included and wanted as well as put up flags in areas that predominate the same sex acceptance or areas where it is common for people to accept LGBT. Many places in the Tampa Bay area have a strict no-hate speech policy to protect residents from discrimination. Many events help locals feel included and established.
Nicholas Capezza, the local board member for the human campaign on human rights, gave an insight into what it means to be part of the community:
“Oh I think it’s a very tolerant area No one really cares if you’re gay here Well I was on the board for Pride here for 4 years I was the Marketing chair Pride is about community and outreach its fund raising and supportive the parade and celebration day is just the end result Think Pride is about community and acceptance and human rights I try to volunteer as much as I can I was on the board. It’s for acceptance and unity It’s for acceptance and unity. “
The pride parades have always voiced the progression for the LGBTIA Community and shaped the political atmosphere and local news that spread the current state of LGBTQIA safety and promoted the wellness of the community. The people of Tampa Bay faced hatred in terms of beatings, killings, intimidation, raids, homelessness, and abandonment. Gay conversion therapy was big in the area until the 21st century. The threats moved on but people were still expected to work, live day to day, and function with the masses.
Capezza explains “The city hosts the parade Provides security via police, I feel like it’s making us more visible thereby validating us as a group State rights for us are governed by cities or counties For the longest time gays were protected in Hillsboro from job or renting discrimination but not in Pinellas we fought for that It was pretty common in the 90s in St Pete for gays and lesbians to be thrown out on the streets when their landlords learned about them being queer Yes for sure It’s still in legislature From 2009.”
The transgendered community faces the strictest laws in the nation as trans people were the last to get their surgeries legally operated, gain their bathrooms and face the highest suicides and homelessness in the country. Laws that state drivers’ licenses must be changed after having surgery and affidavit of a live birth signed before a notary. Violence and discrimination are very common in both work, and schools across the state, and many people have campaigned and fought for the rights within the trans community to be heard and taken seriously.
“ Education is key for the Trans community, and you know the current state of education in America. We don’t even learn real black history in schools, yet alone other minority groups stories, So all minorities really need more voice and attention to teaching truths. I mean the city does nothing without someone out there championing us. The problem for trans people is that their issues align with gay issues but not always” says Capezza.
Education and people understanding the I pacts local laws and local support from the community can have on the Transgendered Community plays an important role in what advancements it can have for the whole community and without one support we will never have the other.
Pride is a celebration that will keep making history, it takes years of planning, 24/7 updates on news and community celebrations and events, and support from the people around us that makes the community grow bigger and bigger. The market team that extends internationally and the people and spokesmen to make the representations grow to all. Tampa Bay started Pride in St Pete in 2003 and it has grown to be the largest pride in the state, and it has become one of the biggest pride markets in the country.
Former board member and local program manager for Metro inclusive Health Christian Klimas tell his story on how he got involved with pride and what pride means to him:
“I am a clinical program manager for Metro Inclusive Health. We are a nonprofit LGBTQIA clinic, so (I’m assuming you mean LGBTQIA community) has a big impact on my job, It says a lot about the community. I was an assistant director on the Milwaukee Pride board for a couple years before moving to FL. That was a huge event for the state of WI. And I learned a lot about what it takes to put on that type of event. So, coming here and learning it was one of the largest in the nation, the largest in the state, I realized that the success of an event involves its attendees as much as, if not more than, its planners. You can plan a party, but it means nothing if you cannot get people to come. The support of the event by so many community businesses and members shows that we are equitable to the LGBTQ+ community. That the city itself recognizes the importance of what PRIDE stands for and supports the rights of those who live within the city.” Klimas works for local LGBTQI Health and volunteers his time at pride and supports local LGBTIA businesses and allies alike. He feels safer and more inclined to be in areas where people are allowed to be themselves and feel like they have got a voice. He pushes for human rights and makes it known what goes on in the community and fights for change where change is needed for everybody in the community. Klimas is very social and will push for change to help progress civil rights around the state.
Florida has come a long way over the years and many businesses across the state support and include LGBTQI citizens in the family and city entertainment outlook. Schools are considering being taught LGBTIA History. Parents are allowed to Adopt even though there are certain restrictions. 60% of the state allows protections in place for LGBTQIA residents. Conversion therapy was banned, so there is still a lot of progress in the state. Florida has a lot of work and more protection that is still needed in the state laws and society around them, but the community has become one of the most desirable places in the world and that is what makes Florida the most unique state that it is.
