We asked St. Pete resident and our favorite foodie friend Jerry Notaro to share with PN how St. Pete Pride got its start. One of St. Pete Pride’s earliest torchbearers, he was intimately involved in the annual June celebration’s nascent beginning.
Notaro served as the St. Pete Pride’s Board Secretary, historian, and archivist. He came USF St. Petersburg as an openly gay librarian and has championed gay rights and related human rights issues for decades. He participated in an early 1979 gay pride parade in New York that commemorated the 10th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots and took part in the first gay pride parade in Pinellas County in 1989 at Williams Park. Nearly 50 people attended; three decades later, St. Pete’s Pride celebration today is the largest in Florida with events throughout the month.
Prior to Notaro’s 2012 retirement from USFSP, he donated his St. Pete Pride photos and ephemera to that university’s Nelson Poynter Library. Housed there, the St. Pete Pride History Collection honor’s Notaro’s gift: The Gerald A. Notaro Collection of St. Pete Pride Archives: A Collection Guide. www.digitalcommons.usf.edu/scua_finding_aid_all/61/
Says Notaro: “It began with a Promenade…” which set in motion the birth of St. Pete Pride, according to the founding organization of the same name, which details the event’s history on its website. “In 2003, when Tampa’s pride parade was effectively shut down by legislators, the St. Petersburg community picked up the torch. That first Pride Promenade has turned into a month-long celebration, featuring activities across the city. And today, St. Pete Pride is the biggest Pride celebration in the state of Florida and ranked in the top 40 largest Pride celebrations in the world!”
Quick to credit others, Notaro says of friend and successful St. Pete businessman Brian Longstreth is the one person who deserves the most credit for St. Pete Pride’s founding and success. Learn more about June’s events in PN’s event listings or at stpetepride.org.