St. Pete Pride is hosting the LGBTQ+ Youth & Family Day at North Straub Park for another year as Pride Month celebrations continue worldwide.
The event has Tampa Bay area families such as the Dugans in mind.
"Even in public, even walking in the grocery stores, we are a family just as much as somebody else's family," said mother Elizabeth Dugan.
With this event, St. Pete Pride's Vice President Byron Green Callisch is focusing on creating a space for not only queer families but for queer children to be able to connect with other children.
"There's a gap in what needs to be celebrated," said Callisch.
St. Pete Pride even handpicked vendors that cater to families, like offering information about adoption.
"This one will hit home for me specifically, as my husband and I are in the adoption process ourselves," said Callisch. "And that was like, what better way to bring transparency and openness? And the reality is that families can be created in any number of ways."
This comes amid a flood of laws in many red states that some say are erasing LGBTQ identities from schools, especially for younger children.
"It's an opportunity also for them to kind of not be shielded from things that may be considered inappropriate, but to show them this is reality, this is life. And these people are real, and they're valid. They're just like us," said Callisch.
The LGBTQ+ Youth & Family Day starts at 10 a.m. on Saturday at North Straub Park.
