As this year’s Come Out With Pride parade wraps its bedazzled head around a commendable and monumental tenth year, we shouldn’t be too quick to dismiss what an achievement the whole event is, and what it represents. Once upon a time, there were fights about rainbow flags on downtown flagpoles, protesters screaming death wishes at parade participants, warnings of tropical storms and other natural disasters out there designed specifically for punitive treatment of same-sex couples and those who love them.
This year, though, even with the trappings of extravagant corporate sponsorship and family-friendly fare – even, perhaps, because of those trappings – there is just so much fluidity and hope in what it is that the LGBT community has been fighting for since the Stonewall days. On Oct. 6, the United States Supreme Court quietly refused to hear appeals on marriage equality cases that had been stayed after lower courts decided in favor of marriage; In a short time, a majority of Americans will be eligible to marry whom it is that they love, gay or straight.
And, perhaps most interestingly, during her Oct. 6 televised attorney general debate with Democrat George Sheldon and the libertarian candidate Bill Wohlsifer, current AG Pam Bondi – who has gone on the record numerous times opposing marriage equality in Florida – referred to the recent Supreme Court decision as “tremendous.” She wasn’t yet willing to say where her administration would fall on the issue, or whether current appeals would be dropped, but with any luck, “tremendous” is worthy of a pride parade.
