ORLANDO, Fla. — The streets were busy in downtown Orlando as thousands headed to Lake Eola Park to celebrate Come Out With Pride.
What You Need To Know
Come Out With Pride was celebrated in downtown Orlando Saturday
Performances, a parade, and fireworks were scheduled at this year’s event in Lake Eola Park
Organizers are expecting to top last year’s crowd
This year’s events included a trans rally and march, drag and musical performances, and a parade through downtown.
“I love being able to express myself with my community because with this day and age, it feels like you have to hide and I’d rather not do that, so getting to express myself in the broad daylight is really nice and refreshing,” said attendee Bas Zammarrelli.
Come Out With Pride is organized by executive director Tatiana Quiroga, who says she is expecting to top last year’s attendance of 230,000 people since it is the largest single-day pride event in Orlando.
“To me, that speaks volumes of who we are as a community because we know a lot of those people are obviously part of the LGBTQ community, but majority of those folks are also allies,” said Quiroga. “And for us, allies are totally essential to being able to continue to grow the community.”
Each year brings new and returning attendees to Orlando, such as Lewy Brown. Other cities, such as Tampa and Fort Myers, canceled their pride events.
“I definitely feel like it’s good to see my community on a basis that I know is going to happen every year,” said Brown.
The parade started at 4 p.m. on Orange Avenue and headed towards Lake Eola Park. A fireworks show was scheduled to finish off the night.
Quiroga said this year has been challenging for the community, with the recent “crosswalk controversy,” where the state ordered the removal of pavement art, including the rainbow-colored crosswalk outside Pulse nightclub in Orlando.
“We truly feel like this is our love letter to the community,” said Quiroga.