rainbow crosswalk<\/a> on Central Avenue in St. Pete resonated deeply with the community.<\/p>\n\u201cThis is about more than one crosswalk,\u201d said Rob Hall, executive director of Winter Pride Saint Pete. \u201cIt\u2019s about the growing voices in Tallahassee and Washington that are actively trying to erase LGBTQIA+ people from public life. This is our response. We are choosing light over fear, visibility over silence, and love over erasure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor many in our community, these lights are meant to be a reminder that they are not alone,\u201d Hall added. \u201cThis is a project we\u2019re building together, and we\u2019re inviting others to help us bring it to life.\u201d<\/p>\n
The light installation will take place within a broader event and received funding from Inclusive Care Group, but organizers say the project is not fully funded and additional support is required to deliver the installation as planned.<\/p>\n
Winter Pride Saint Pete will be held from Feb. 15 to 22. According to organizers, it will feature events, performances, community gatherings, and other experiences across the city. On Feb. 19, organizers will host a launch gathering event for the lights display, beginning at 5 p.m.<\/p>\n
“The public is invited to gather in front of the Mari Jean Hotel, 2349 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, as the city is illuminated in light, color, and pride,” organizers said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis project reflects the heart of St. Petersburg and the strength of its community,\u201d David Fischer said. Fischer owns and operates the Mari Jean Hotel and is also a board member of Winter Pride Saint Pete.<\/p>\n
Winter Pride Saint Pete launched last year. Organizers say 57,000 people attended the celebration during their first year.<\/p>\n
Winter Pride Saint Pete is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and you can learn more about the celebration and how to support here<\/a>. Donors will have the opportunity to meet the leadership of Winter Pride during a pre-event gathering.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cFor many in our community, these lights are meant to be a reminder that they are not alone,\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":150935,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":{"0":"post-150934","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-st-petersburg","8":"tag-st-pete","9":"tag-st-pete-headlines","10":"tag-st-pete-news","11":"tag-st-petersburg","12":"tag-st-petersburg-headlines","13":"tag-st-petersburg-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}