{"id":329247,"date":"2026-07-04T11:14:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T11:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/329247\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T11:14:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T11:14:08","slug":"st-pete-pride-cancels-upcoming-event-citing-financial-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/329247\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Pete Pride cancels upcoming event, citing &#8216;financial challenges&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The &#8216;Shades of Pride&#8217; event was scheduled for July 19.<\/p>\n<p>ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014 St. Pete Pride has canceled an upcoming event due to financial challenges, the Board of Directors announced.<\/p>\n<p>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/stpetepride\/posts\/pfbid02tL6bqRyJ7stRZK1Rx979pFmYW26xSAgLJkhtvKd89dSYHLMrcD8SHVca1kNdJowbl?__cft__%5B0%5D=AZY2qa4jGvriUcu5C2cad8LA1fkEL16Cx5r47hHhVMrtp4V7gQXzra7o6oBrqjytobzoCDpGHm0RNsazpMfUYGI4lvy3WnSdcEAcvWSCD60rzPbbTdYrAeRBEJMwoq9dshI9pApzj-SOvMW5aw1t8GOaNpDKnaj0T4t0wc8P7285STUuUegL4DEChJ7JHf7LCzk&amp;__tn__=%252CO%252CP-R\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Facebook post<\/a> Friday, the organization said its Shades of Pride event, which was scheduled for July 19, will not take place.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This was not a decision we made lightly,&#8221; the post reads. &#8220;Like most LGBTQ+ organizations, [our] sponsorships have declined, and the cost of producing community events has continued to rise.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>                                            &#13;<br \/>\n                                                <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wtsp.com\/assets\/shared-images\/icons\/arrow-circle-down.svg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>                                            &#13;<br \/>\n                                                This story continues below.&#13;<\/p>\n<p>RELATED:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wtsp.com\/video\/news\/local\/pinellascounty\/st-pete-pride-officials-call-for-local-financial-support\/67-a0ef3230-46a4-4f3a-b5fd-321ecbb9e678\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">St. Pete Pride officials call for local financial support<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Shades of Pride is an annual one-day celebration honoring Juneteenth, with a focus on &#8220;Black LGBTQ+ voices, culture, and creativity,&#8221; according to the organization&#8217;s website. It was set to take place at the Morean Arts Center for Clay.<\/p>\n<p>St. Pete Pride has been transparent about financial hardships this year, as a new state law prevents local governments from spending taxpayer dollars on &#8220;DEI initiatives.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>RELATED:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wtsp.com\/article\/news\/regional\/florida\/florida-bill-targeting-dei-funding-impact-events-st-pete-pride\/67-f361a5a9-79fd-4599-a86b-c95950ac6e44\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Bill targeting DEI funding could impact events like St. Pete Pride<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The reality is that, without financial support from our community, St. Pete Pride will look different in the years ahead,&#8221; the statement reads. &#8220;We sincerely apologize to everyone who planned to attend Shades of Pride and appreciate your understanding.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>For more information on St. Pete Pride and other events, visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stpetepride.org\/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAYnJpZBExQ1JYcUtqMjdjZW5BMUpidnNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR7CtaWnIlHAvl6Ikb__nvYSDpQviCgeg0NDKa7On62FsQ5qvMTd5mNgF2XuNw_aem_oIVumlMShw5pgl3dwbXbGQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">organization&#8217;s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The &#8216;Shades of Pride&#8217; event was scheduled for July 19. ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014 St. Pete Pride has&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329248,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-329247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329247","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=329247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}