“Honey, who puts together a Pride event in 60 days?”
This was the question a friend posed to Jorge Alvarado just a few days ago, as he prepared for the reemergence of Tampa’s Pride celebration with this Saturday’s Pride on 7th event. Despite the short turnaround time he’s had, the day-long event has come together over the past two months and promises to deliver something for everyone. Featuring an expo with scores of local vendors and a dance party, both preceded by a river walk for peace at 8 a.m., Pride on 7th will take over The Heights at the intersection of N. Ola Avenue and 7th Avenue starting at 9 a.m.
Though Pride events are typically held in June, that’s when Alvarado began planning Pride on 7th. After nearly 10 years of watching the growth of Pride festivities in neighboring cities St. Petersburg and Orlando, he finally said enough is enough; it was time for Tampa to regain a Pride event of its own. “I belong to the city of Tampa. I live here. There’s no reason why other communities have this type of celebration and we don’t,” Alvarado said. “We deserve it.”
At one point, Tampa did have an annual celebration of its own, but, said Alvarado, the local political climate just 10 years ago didn’t support it. “There was political turmoil,” he said. “Local leaders didn’t make Tampa such a nice place to live. You have to remember, we belong to a culture that’s oppressed.” So Tampa’s Pride fell by the wayside, even as St. Petersburg’s event, just across the bridge, grew into one of the largest celebrations in the Southeast.
But now it’s time to “invest in our own community,” Alvarado said.
This article appears in Aug 26 – Sep 1, 2010.