The event at Heritage Park in Land O' Lakes was staked out from the beginning by around 11 bigots, some of whom showed up with megaphones. One of them wore a shirt that said "homo" with a slash through it, and a sign that read, "satan rules over all the children of pride."
They proceeded to call members of the crowd "lesbian whores" and other derogatory terms as some people tried to speak reason to them. Two of the groups that showed up to spread hate were from KJV Baptist Church and the Dayton Street Preachers, organizers of the event told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.
CL photographer Dave Decker asked Pasco Pride members why the bigots were allowed to stay on the property since law enforcement had shown up at the beginning of the event, then left.
"It's really the discretion of the park and the sheriff's office and police department," said Diana Shanks, communications director for Pasco Pride. "So we've done what we can to cordon off the volunteer area and we also have a private room we reserved for performers. But this is something that we run into every year trying to do pride in public places."
Shanks said that the homophobes are so familiar from past events that they know their names: Deb Maxwell and Dick Maxwell.
"They come to every single Pride event that we do," Shanks said. "We have a lot of KJV Baptists people and they've been everything we've done for the last four years."
News reports show that the Maxwells have shown up to protest several LGBTQIA+ events, including a drag queen story hour event in St. Petersburg in 2019.
Members of Pasco Pride said that the Christian homophobes made children at the event cry, and called a 10-year-old a whore.
Some of them used megaphones to spread the hate speech, which is technically illegal under a Pasco County noise ordinances. BLM protesters were fined in 2020 for using them, but law enforcement did not intervene as the bigots used amplified sound to spread their message.
People at the event kept their spirits up, said Decker, and the celebration carried on despite the hatred slung toward the attendees.
"They come to every single Pride event that we do," Shanks said. "We have a lot of KJV Baptists people and they've been everything we've done for the last four years."
News reports show that the Maxwells have shown up to protest several LGBTQIA+ events, including a drag queen story hour event in St. Petersburg in 2019.
Members of Pasco Pride said that the Christian homophobes made children at the event cry, and called a 10-year-old a whore.
Some of them used megaphones to spread the hate speech, which is technically illegal under a Pasco County noise ordinances. BLM protesters were fined in 2020 for using them, but law enforcement did not intervene as the bigots used amplified sound to spread their message.
People at the event kept their spirits up, said Decker, and the celebration carried on despite the hatred slung toward the attendees.