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Gerald A. Notaro collection of St. Petersburg Pride Archives, 2003-2009

 

Summary

Creator:
Notaro, Gerald A.
St. Pete Pride, Inc.
Abstract:
Collection comprises of St. Petersburg Pride event ephemera in the early 2000s donated by USF St. Petersburg librarian Gerald A. Notaro.
Extent:
3 Linear Feet
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Gerald A. Notaro collection of St. Petersburg Pride, Nelson Poynter Memorial Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, FL.

Background

Scope and content:

Materials include St. Petersburg Pride event ephemera, photographic prints and negatives, commemorative items, promotional pamphelets and posters from the early 2000s. This annual event is in the Grand Central District and has grown into one of the largest LGBTQ+ celebrations in the southeastern United States.

Biographical / historical:

Gerald A. Notaro came to USF St. Petersburg as an openly gay librarian and has championed gay rights for decades. As a board member of the ACLU of Pinellas County he worked to make sure that gay and lesbian issues were addressed. He was the original advisor for the LGBTQ+ student organization at USF St. Petersburg. Mr. Notaro helped found Camp Torreyea, a summer camp for LGBTQ+ youth and created a support group within the Florida Library Association that works to understand the needs of the LGBTQ+ community in libraries. Mr. Notaro has participated in many gay pride events, including attending New York gay parade in 1979 that commemorated the tenth anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. He also took part in the first gay pride parade in Pinellas County in 1989 at William Park that had only about 50 people in attendance. He was a member of St. Petersburg Pride from its beginning in 2003 and served on the organization's board of directors for two years and as the secretary and archivist for two years.

St. Pete Pride is an annual gay pride event that occurs every June that culminates with a parade and street festival in St. Petersburg's Kenwood neighborhood and Grand Central District. St. Pete Pride began in 2003 as another gay pride organization, Greater Tampa Bay Pride, began to falter. St. Pete Pride wanted to focus on promoting the gay and lesbian community in St. Petersburg and Pinellas County that had been underserved by the Greater Tampa Bay Pride organization. The event also gained more support and prominence when the Hillsborough County Commission passed a controversial resolution prohibiting that county on the eastern side of Tampa Bay from recognizing or acknowledging gay pride in any way, including displays in public libraries.

The size of the event has grown significantly from its beginnings in 2003. The inaugural parade had an estimated 10,000 attendees while the crowd estimates for the parades since 2009 have been over 80,000. St. Pete Pride is the largest city sponsored event of the year, larger than Martin Luther King Jr., Day and the annual Opening Day celebration of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team at Tropicana Field. It is the largest gay pride event in the state of Florida and the largest event in the South outside Atlanta. The size of the parade itself has also grown over the years. At its beginning it took less than fifteen minutes for the parade to reach its end, while in 2011 it took over four hours.

Although the size and scope of St. Pete Pride has changed since its beginning in 2003, this event has retained much of its original character. It remains free to all attendees in order encourage those for whom fees might be a roadblock to participate and it takes place in a neighborhood that has been supportive of the LGBT community for years.

Perceptions of St. Pete Pride by the local community and government have also evolved since 2003. Sponsorship has shifted increasingly from local businesses to a large number of national sponsors, which have included Macys, Wells‐Fargo, Coca Cola, and Jet Blue. While the event has always received warm support from the St. Petersburg City Council and the city government, it has only recently received any acknowledgement from the Mayor's office. While former Mayor Rick Baker's attitude towards St. Pete Pride could be described as "silently non‐supportive," Mayor Bill Foster has given greater attention to St. Pete Pride and the gay community. Although, like his predecessor, Foster refused to sign the city council proclamation recognizing St. Pete Pride, he did attend the reading of the proclamation and some of the ancillary events related to parade.

As evidence of St. Pete Pride's growth in importance and size, it has become an important driver of tourism among the gay and lesbian community at the international level. The parade has made St. Petersburg into a tourist destination for the LGBT community. Hotels catering to the LGBT community become fully booked during the three days surrounding the parade

Acquisition information:
Notaro donated these items on 15 March 2012, shortly before his retirement from the USFSP faculty.

Access and use

Terms of access:

None. The contents of the collection may be subject to copyright. Visit the United States Copyright Office's website at http://www.copyright.gov/ for more information.

Preferred citation:

Gerald A. Notaro collection of St. Petersburg Pride, Nelson Poynter Memorial Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, FL.

Location of this collection:
140 7th Avenue South
St. Petersburg
FL
33701
USA