ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The owner of one of the largest gay-owned businesses in St. Petersburg said he was “shocked” after he learned the nonprofit St Pete Pride publicly denounced affiliation with an upcoming pride event.
St Pete Pride distributed a statement mid-morning Wednesday, Aug. 14, to news outlets saying it was clarifying it is not behind what was formerly called “St. Pete Winter Pride,” an event hosted by LGBTQ+-owned Cocktail slated to take place in February 2025.
The organization has hosted the city's Pride-related events for more than 20 years. 10 Tampa Bay is a media sponsor of the annual event.
“While we wholeheartedly support LGBTQIA+ businesses and organizations in St. Petersburg, we want to make it clear that we are not associated with ‘Winter Pride’ in any capacity,” St Pete Pride said in its release.
David Fischer, owner of six businesses in St. Petersburg, including Cocktail and The Saint, said the news was “out of left field” because his business, along with the nonprofit Grand Central District Association, had been in conversation with St Pete Pride since December 2023 about collaborating to put on the aforementioned event.
The statement from St Pete Pride claims they “were not consulted” before the event launched, and, “once we were, our concerns were disregarded.”
It’s now called “Winter Pride” after Fischer said he and his team agreed to drop “St. Pete” from the name at the nonprofit’s request. At first, Fischer claims St Pete Pride’s president Dr. Byron Green-Calisch was on board with the collaboration.
Fischer explained that the idea for Winter Pride came from feedback from the community and customers, who said how much they’d like to have Pride-related events when it’s cooler outside as opposed to only having events during Pride Month, which is in June.
Fischer pointed out that several other cities in Florida have Pride events at different times of the year.
According to Fischer, Green-Calisch initially told him to go forward with St Pete Pride as a partner of St. Pete Winter Pride and advertise it with the name as is.
Fischer explained organizers wanted to get the word out and advertise to other LGBTQ+-friendly cities, such as Provincetown, about the Winter Pride event as soon as possible and said he relayed that to Green-Calisch and St. Pete Pride.
However, at some point, St. Pete Pride leaders decided against partnering with Fischer. Fischer said the nonprofit mentioned they don’t have the resources to put on two large-scale events.
Fischer asserted that he and other organizers were not asking them to contribute in that capacity, but rather collaborate. Still, St Pete Pride requested the name be changed, Fischer said. And they pivoted their advertising and agreed to do that, he said.
As late as Wednesday afternoon, parts of Cocktail’s website had references to St. Pete Winter Pride. Those references appear to have been removed from the website later in the day. Fischer said his team should have all of that done by Thursday.
He mentioned St Pete Pride leaders contested the use of “Pride” in Winter Pride’s marketing, but it was something the February event’s organizers pushed back on.
He said the use of “Pride” in a Pride-related event isn’t owned by a singular entity and to take the word pride out would completely change the meaning of the event.
A sticking point in St Pete Pride's release is the concern about people becoming confused or even "misled" about who is running the event. So, the organization said it was important for them to bring awareness to the community "of the differences between our organization and this for-profit-led event."
“Up to this point the event in question... has been organized by a for-profit entity with the primary goal of generating profit and driving business into their establishments, which fundamentally misaligns with our values and mission,” St. Pete Pride’s release stated.
Fischer disagreed with St Pete Pride’s assertion the decision to host Winter Pride was purely for profit, asserting that his business and the Grand Central District Association, a local nonprofit, are collaborating on this event, as well.
He said this was really about bringing Pride back to its birthplace, which he said was the Grand Central District in St. Petersburg. Winter Pride will also benefit LGBTQ+-owned businesses and the community, Fischer said.
Fischer said that while he’s retired, he created Cocktail and his other businesses to be a safe space year-round for the LGBTQ+ community. His business has had a good partnership with St. Pete Pride; Fischer said Cocktail was one of the largest donors to St. Pete Pride this year with about $100,000 total combined with funding and events hosted at or outside the venue, he added.
Fischer, who said he was on vacation out of state at the time he spoke with 10 Tampa Bay, mentioned he was planning to reach out to Green-Calisch to speak to him on this matter.
