JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – There was a large gathering all weekend in the city’s Riverside neighborhood for the annual River City Pride Festival.
With everything from a huge gay pride parade Saturday to booths galore, organizers said the event has been a success.
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Organizers have dubbed the festival a family-friendly event, wanting the entire community to feel encouraged to show up to the festival focused on pride in the LGBT community.
“LGBT people have children,” vendor Bill Weeks said. “They like to take them out as a family and this has always been a family-friendly event every time we’ve been here. So you’ll see kids and of course dogs.”
The issue of LGBT rights has been at the center of debate in Jacksonville for years, and the pride festival draws a lot of supporters of the failed human rights ordinance. It’s a bill that has been proposed but never passed the Jacksonville City Council. The original design was to add a layer of protection for the LGBT community in hiring and housing.
The LGBT community has had other successes. This past week the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has adopted anti-discrimination hiring policies to protect the LGBT community. Still, the lack of a human rights ordinance in Jacksonville still frustrates many here.
There were numerous people at the event trying to register people to vote. There was also a lot of talk about the human rights ordinance, which many people said continues to be a focus for the LGBT community.