Tallahassee's yearly Pride Fest took place in Cascades Park on Saturday. The thousands of people who came seemed to be energized by recent attacks on their gender identities.
The Capital City's celebration of the LGBTQ+ community wasn't the only one taking place in Florida this year. At least six others are set to happen all over the state in the months to come. Jon Harris Maurer, public policy director for Equality Florida, said almost seemed like existing and proposed laws targeting the community are having the opposite effect.
"I think this is going to be a swing-shot moment. As much as we've been pulled back in receiving these attacks, people are also really energized. You see terrific crowds like today and people want to be part of the community, want to be in community with each other and they're ready to make sure they can keep being themselves and keep being seen no matter what the politicians are doing."
Maurer said Florida lawmakers are set to consider more anti-LGBTQ+ bills when they convene for the 2025 session March 4. Also, Equality Florida is hosting a march on the state capitol on March 20th.
